Food spending in the Food Security Supplement

CPS
1

Hello,

I am trying to find food spending data on the latest 2023 Food Security Supplement by retailer category. USDA’s latest ‘Household Food Security in the United States’ report for 2023 suggests they identify food spending from four separate sources: supermarkets + grocery stores, stores other than supermarkets and grocery stores, restaurants + related outlets, and “any other kind of place”. However, it appears that data for only two of these variables, FSSPDRESTC and FSSPDOTHC, are available for 2023, while FSSPDMKT and FSSPDSTR are not available for years after 2014 on IPUMS (and lack recoded categorical versions of the variables from what I can tell).

First, why are only two of these variables available for more recent years? Second, if I subtract FSSPDRESTC and FSSPDOTHC from the value of FSTOTXPNC (total expenditures on food last week), would my result equal the summed value of the remaining two categories FSSPDMKT and FSSPDSTR?

2

IPUMS staff are currently processing additional Food Security and other CPS supplement variables (including those you request here). We will notify registered users via email when they are available, which we expect to be within the next month. In the meantime you might consider downloading the data directly from the Census website, though the variable names and coding structure will differ from the IPUMS samples. You can merge observations in the IPUMS CPS BMS sample with those in the supplement using the linking keys HRHHID, HRHHID2, and LINENO (referred to as PULINENO in the CB data).

As to your second question, the food security supplement codebook, describes the CPS variable HETS8O as being “created from adding positive values in (HES2O, HES4O, HES6O , and HES7O and subtracting positive values in (HES3O and HES5O). Top code 500.”

CPS codebook variable definitions:

  • HETS8O (IPUMS variable FSTOTXPNC): Out variable for amount of money spent on
    nonfood items at places other than grocery stores and supermarkets like meat markets,
    produce stands, etc
  • HES2O: Out variable that represents the amount of money spent by the household on purchases at super-markets and grocery stores
  • HES4O: Out variable that represent amount spent by the household at stores other than
    supermarkets and grocery stores–like meat markets, produce stands, bakeries, etc
  • HES6O (IPUMS variable FSSPDRESTC): Out variable that represents the amount
    spent by the household for food at restaurants, fast food places, cafeterias and
    vending machines last week
  • HES7O (IPUMS variable FSSPDOTHC): Out variable that represents the amount
    spent by the household for food at any other kind of place last week.
  • HES30: Out variable for amount of money spent on nonfood items at supermarkets and grocery stores
  • HES50: Out variable for amount of money spent on nonfood items at places other than grocery
    stores and supermarkets like meat markets, produce stands, etc

Based on the codebook text, your suggestion would not work using only IPUMS variables because we do not currently make available the CPS variables HES30 and HES50 (non-food expenditures at grocery stores and supermarkets and other locations not grocery stores and supermarkets) that need to be subtracted from the total. We are currently in process of adding these variables.

1 Like
3

Thanks so much for clarifying!