Food Spending of Middle-Income Households Hardest Hit by the Great Recession

As household incomes fell during the Great Recession, total food spending by U.S. households declined by 7 percent between 2007 and 2010, as many households cut back on eating out. Food spending by households in the middle-income quintile remained below pre-recession levels in 2016, and these households continued to allocate more of their food budgets to food at home rather than eating out. Households with an elderly member tend to have a more fixed income from Social Security or pensions, which may be why these households did not have significant changes in their food purchasing patterns during the Great Recession.