Summary Demographic Profile (5.2)
Client respondents provided information about various demographic characteristics of themselves and their households. Table 5.2.1 summarizes the demographic profile of the client households of the A2H National Network. It also contains statistics about adult clients who visit A2H emergency food programs.
Table 5.2.1
SUMMARY DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF A2H CLIENTS
(Client Households of A2H Emergency Food Providers)
|
Pantry |
Kitchen |
Shelter |
All |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Client Households |
||||
Size of household a |
|
|
|
|
Households with 1 member |
32.8% |
60.2% |
81.7% |
40.7% |
Households with 2-3 members |
38.8% |
28.1% |
13.4% |
35.3% |
Households with 4-6 members |
24.4% |
10.1% |
3.4% |
20.6% |
Households with more than 6 members |
4.0% |
1.7% |
1.5% |
3.4% |
|
|
|
|
|
Average household size |
2.7 |
1.9 |
1.4 |
2.5 |
Median household size |
2 |
1 |
1 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
Households with nonfamily members |
5.1% |
5.9% |
1.9% |
5.0% |
Households with one or more adults employed |
37.3% |
35.1% |
24.3% |
36.0% |
Households with single parents |
17.3% |
6.5% |
6.7% |
14.8% |
Households with single parents among households with children younger than age 18 b |
43.0% |
39.7% |
68.9% |
43.3% |
Elderly and children in household |
|
|
|
|
Households with children younger than age 18 |
40.7% |
16.8% |
10.7% |
34.6% |
Households with children ages 0-5 years |
18.5% |
7.4% |
6.4% |
15.8% |
Households with children ages 0-3 years |
12.3% |
4.6% |
4.0% |
10.4% |
Households with any member 65 years or older |
24.8% |
14.1% |
2.9% |
21.5% |
Adult Clients at Program Sites |
||||
Adult Clients at Program Sites |
|
|
|
|
Male |
31.5% |
60.7% |
71.5% |
39.2% |
Female |
68.5% |
39.3% |
28.5% |
60.8% |
U.S. citizens |
92.4% |
94.6% |
94.7% |
93.0% |
Registered voters c |
70.3% |
66.9% |
53.3% |
68.5% |
Married or living as married |
33.7% |
21.5% |
9.3% |
30.0% |
High school graduate |
60.4% |
69.4% |
68.0% |
62.5% |
Currently employed |
21.9% |
25.2% |
22.9% |
22.5% |
Clients in suburban/rural areas |
47.9% |
24.9% |
27.2% |
42.6% |
SAMPLE SIZE (N) |
37,986 |
10,667 |
4,225 |
52,878 |
Source:
This table was constructed based on usable responses to
questions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10, 11, 11a, 12, 81a, and 82 of the client
survey
.
Notes:
The percentages presented in this table are based only on
usable responses, excluding missing, don’t know, and refusal responses, except
for the percentage of employed clients (See Table 5.7.2). All usable responses were weighted as described in
Chapter 3 and in the Technical Appendix
volume to represent all
emergency food clients of the A2H National Network. The sample sizes (N)
also include missing data.
a For all programs, responses greater than 24 people in a household were recoded as 24 people. Additional data are available for at most 10 members of each household. See Chapter 3 for details.
b The sample size is 15,756 for the pantry, 1,518 for the kitchen 745 for the shelter, and 18,019 for all.
c For registered voters, missing, don’t know, and refusal responses combined are 2.6% for pantry clients, 4.2% for kitchen clients, 2.9% for shelter clients, and 2.9% for all clients.
The upper part of Table 5.2.1 shows the compositions of A2H client households. The mean household size is 2.5, and 36.0% of the households have an employed adult. In addition:
- 40.7% of the client households are single-person households.
- 3.4% of the client households have more than six members.
- Among client households with children younger than age 18, 43.3% are single-parent households.
- 34.6% of the client households have at least one member younger than age 18.
- 15.8% of the client households have one or more children ages 0 to 5 years.
- 21.5% of the households have at least one member age 65 years or older.
The lower part of Table 5.2.1 shows that 39.2% of the adult clients visiting emergency food programs are men, while 60.8% are women. (Table 5.3.1 contains detailed age, gender, and citizenship information.) Among adults at emergency providers, 93.0% are U.S. citizens, 62.5% are high school graduates, and 22.5% are currently working. These statistics, however, take into account only the client population who come to the program sites. Since the pantries’ client base is not limited to the individual members who come to pick up food, but includes all members of such clients’ households, it is also of interest to examine similar tabulations based on all individual members of client households. Table 5.3.2 in the next section presents age, gender, and citizenship composition of all members of client households.