Outline
The Importance of Time
for Poverty Assessment, Food Policy,
and Nutrition Education
Donald (Diego) Rose
Department of Community Health Sciences
School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine
Tulane University
I.
Beyond one dimension in poverty assessment
II.
The importance of time for food assistance policy
III. New directions in nutrition education
UW ECOR Forum “Poverty and Obesity: Disparities in Diet and Health,” March 2, 2007, Seattle, WA
Assessment of poverty currently based on
money income
2007 DHHS Poverty Guidelines
• Poverty Guidelines
– Developed each year by DHHS
– Used for program eligibility (e.g. Food Stamps, WIC)
– Considers household size, annual income
• Poverty Thresholds
– Developed by Census Bureau
– Used for statistical purposes (e.g. % of people in poverty)
– Considers household size, annual income
SOURCE: http://aspe.hhs.gov/poverty/07poverty.shtml
2005 Poverty Thresholds
by size of family and number of related children under 18 years
Why does the Census Bureau produce an
entire table of poverty thresholds?
• The more people in a household, the more it costs
to meet basic needs
– adjustments for # of children, age of household head
• Census produces statistics on poverty rate, wants
to estimate one rate for all households
• Poverty thresholds provide $ amounts of income
needed for households of different size to be at
equivalent level of well-being
SOURCE: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld/thresh05.html
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A comparison of time allocation in 2 households
2005 Poverty Thresholds
by size of family and number of related children under 18 years
Household A:
1 adult, 1 child
Household B:
2 adults
$13,461
$13,078
2005 poverty threshold, $/yr
Time allocation, hrs/wk
Total
168
336
Personal care
-70
-140
Child care
-14
0
Work to earn poverty threshold (@ 6.47/hr)
-40
-39
Net available for non-market activities
44
157
Use remainder for household prod, leisure
-44
-88
0
69
Time remaining
Adapted from: Citro & Michael, 1995
SOURCE: http://www.census.gov/hhes/www/poverty/threshld/thresh05.html
A comparison of the value of time in 2 households
What is the difference in poverty rate if time is
included in the threshold?
Vickery’s calculations using 1973 poverty
thresholds, 1967 NY time use data
• Household B has 69 more hours of time than A
• Value of that time
• Female-headed families with children in poverty
increased by 14% using money/time thresholds
– @ $6.47/hr X 69 hrs/wk X 52 = $23,214
– @ $5.15/hr X 69 hrs/wk X 52 = $18,478
SOURCE: Vickery, 1977
Adapted from: Citro & Michael, 1995
What is the difference in poverty rate if time is
included in the threshold?
Douthitt’s calculations using 1985 Americans’ Use
of Time Survey
Married Mothers
Harvey's calculations using 1998 Canadian time use data
Couple only
Single mother
with child
Official poverty rate—
income only, %
10.9
38.3
Time & income
poverty rate, %
11.0
44.8
Single Mothers
Employed
Not
employed
Employed
Not
employed
Official poverty rate—
income only, %
6
9
11
18
Time & income
poverty rate, %
24
14
53
56
SOURCE: Douthitt, 2000
What is the difference in poverty rate if time is
included in the threshold?
SOURCE: Harvey, 2002
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Outline
I.
II.
USDA Food Plans
Beyond one dimension in poverty assessment
• Currently there are 4 plans
The importance of time for food assistance policy
• Developed since the 1920s
• Provide consumer guidance
– Thrifty, Low-cost, Moderate-cost, Liberal Food Plans
– how to purchase healthy diets at different cost levels
A. Thrifty Food Plan
B. A contradiction in policy?
C. Empirical evidence on meal preparation
• "Economy Food Plan"
– developed in 1960s
– first to be used as basis for Food Stamp allotments
– forerunner of current Thrifty Food Plan
Thrifty Food Plan
• Named in 1975 from revised Economy Food Plan
• Revised again in 1983, 1999, 2006
• Role in dietary guidance policy
– TFP meets all nutrient & food recommendations from:
• Dietary Reference Intakes
• Dietary Guidelines for Americans
• My Pyramid Food Intake Pattern
• Role in food assistance policy
– Used as basis for inflation adjustments for Food Stamps
Source: CNPP, 2001
Quantities of food for a week, 1999 Thrifty Food Plan market baskets
Source: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/FoodPlans/CostofFoodDec06.pdf
Source: CNPP, 2004
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1
Basis is that all meals and snacks are purchased
at stores and prepared at home...
Preparation and cooking times for TFP dishes
Meal Preparation Time Inputs (hours/week)
Thrifty Food Plan Suggested Menus
Prep Time
Cook Time
Total Time
Week 1
7.4
12.2
19.6
Week 2
5.0
7.6
12.6
Average
6.2
9.9
16.1
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Labor force changes not just
a free market phenomenon
This is not your mother's labor force
• Increase in women's labor force participation
•
•
•
•
– from 38% in 1960 to 60% in 2002
• Women with children accounted for much of this
increase
– from 55% in 1975 to 79% in 2002
• Also increases for women receiving public assistance
– from 30% in 1989 to 57% in 2000
Increases in Earned Income Tax Credit
Increases in # of children receiving Medicaid
State experimentation with AFDC work requirements
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity
Reconciliation Act of 1996
– restructure benefits to TANF
– new time limits
– strengthened work requirements
Mean weekly time (hrs) spent in food
preparation by non-working women in U.S.
A contradiction in policy?
• Since 1990s welfare & tax policies encourage lowincome people to work outside home
• Maintenance of equitable food safety net (e.g. Food
Stamps) seen as desirable even for those who work
• Food Stamp allotments implicitly assume a large
time commitment in food preparation
1965-66
1975-76
1985
1992-94
1998-99
Meal
Preparation
10.9
10.3
10.5
8.1
7.9
Meal
Cleanup
5.2
3.2
3.1
1.3
2.2
Shopping
2.2
3.4
3.6
1.5
1.3
Source: Author’s calculations from AUT 1965-66, AUT 1975-76, AUT 1985,
NHAPS 1992-94, FISCT 1998-99
Mean weekly time (hrs) spent in food
preparation by full-time working women in U.S.
1965-66
Meal
preparation
5.6
Meal
Cleanup
2.8
Shopping
1.5
1975-76
5.5
1.5
2.1
1985
5.1
1.3
3.2
1992-94
4.3
0.6
0.8
Source: Author’s calculations from AUT 1965-66, AUT 1975-76, AUT 1985,
NHAPS 1992-94, FISCT 1998-99
1998-99
4.5
0.8
1.1
Meal production in Food Stamp households*
Hhold size Meal prep time (hrs/wk)
1 adult
All hholds
1
10.8
10.8
2
13.4
13.0
3-4
14.0
14.3
5+
14.7
15.9
All
12.6
13.5
* Food secure Food Stamp households whose adult female
Source: Author’s calculations from 1996-97 NFSPS
respondents were unemployed
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Food preparation time (hrs/wk)
from various sources
Working
women
Data Source
4.5
Meal
Cleanup
0.8
1.1
Non-working women,
food secure Food
Stamp households
Hhold size Meal prep time (hrs/wk) Home food costs (%TFP)
1 adult
All hholds
1 adult
All hholds
1
10.8
10.8
117.8
117.8
2
13.4
13.0
149.9
144.1
2.2
3-4
14.0
14.3
141.8
130.4
1.3
5+
14.7
15.9
111.2
110.4
All
12.6
13.5
128.6
124.6
1998-9 FISCT
Meal
preparation
Shopping
Non-working
women
Meal production in Food Stamp households*
1996-7 NFSPS
7.9
13.5
1.9
Source: Author’s calculations from FISCT 1998-99, 1996-97 NFSPS
* Food secure Food Stamp households whose adult female
Source: Author’s calculations from 1996-97 NFSPS
respondents were unemployed
Outline
I.
Beyond one dimension in poverty assessment
II.
The importance of time for food assistance policy
Nutrition education programming
•
Develop, teach, evaluate how to prepare timesaving nutritious meals
– time included for meal prep, clean-up, shopping
– take into account knowledge of cooking techniques,
equipment
– develop variety (on time dimension) of convenient meals
• quick meals with low total time (prep + cook)
• meals with low prep time
III. New directions in nutrition education
More on nutrition education programming
•
Time management techniques
– develop, teach, evaluate “orchestration techniques”
•
When and where to teach
– the role of extension
– the role of schools in cooking education
•
How else to save time
– the role of retail grocers, food industry
– the role of planners, local agencies
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From a study of Canadian clerical workers…
Women in the study did not simply “use” time, nor did they just
“put in” the hours of the combined workday. Rather, they were
actively involved in manipulating the sequence and
duration of activities so as to respond to the competing
demands of the office and the household. They were the
primary force in orchestrating office, household, and
personal activities in the use of time….
Hessing, M. “More than clockwork: women’s time management in their combined
workloads,” Sociological Perspectives 1994;37:611-623.
Percent of FSNEP agencies including
specific behavioral objectives in their plans
Behavioral Objective
%
Improving shopping skills
80
Improving food budgeting skills
74
Changing consumption patterns
74
Improving or expanding skills in food preparation
72
Improving skills in food safety
66
Improving skills in food storage
56
Improving self-esteem
26
Improving other household budgeting skills
22
Weight management or weight reduction
20
Improving meal planning and time management skills
10
Source: Anliker et al, Food Stamp Nutrition Education Study, FNS/HSR, 2000
Acknowledgements:
Assistance from Rickelle Richards, Yongmei Li, Yeonjoo Yi
Support from an ERS FANRP cooperative agreement
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