Poor families cut down on healthy foods, survey says
Purchase of fruits, vegetables, dairy and eggs drops among low-income households, Taub Center study finds
Marissa Newman is The Times of Israel political correspondent.
Low-income families are most likely to cut back on fruits and vegetables as well as dairy products and eggs, a study from the Taub Center for Social Policy Studies on Monday showed.
The study examined the average amount Israelis spend on food per month (NIS 700), and found that NIS 660 was considered the “normative spending,” namely “the standard level of spending needed to fulfill household food needs.” The two lowest income deciles were found to be short NIS 192 and NIS 99 of the normative amount.
The study, conducted by Professor Dov Chernichovsky and Eitan Regev, revealed that families classified meat and chicken, bread and grains, and oil/fats as the most essential food products, while dairy, fruits and vegetables were deemed “somewhat necessary.” For families strapped for cash, these latter items were the first to go.
However, fruits and vegetables were also listed as items families spent the most on (18.3% of their monthly food budget), followed by meat and chicken (15.9%), bread and bakery goods (14.5%), and dairy products and eggs (14.4%). Families were found to spend 14.3% of their monthly food budget on dining out, and spent the least on alcohol (1.8%).
The monthly spending per person on average amounts to 17% of household income and 21% of household expenditures, the study said.
“The patterns of food spending by Israeli households are not surprising: the burden of food expenditures is greater as per-person income declines. Nevertheless, there are surprising and important findings on the type of food items that poor families forgo. For example, it is concerning that spending on fruits and vegetables and to some extent, also on dairy products, follows the same pattern as spending for luxury items. As such, a decline in income is likely to result in not only a lack of food, but also a reduction in nutritional quality,” Chernichovsky said, according to a press release.
The full report was set to be published in the Taub Center’s upcoming State of the Nation Report 2014.
The Times of Israel Community.