Depression and the Dinner Table: An Empirical Study on the Effects of Paternal Mental Health on Family Food Insecurity

Abstract

Using longitudinal data from the Fragile Families and Wellbeing Study, this analysis examines the effect of paternal depression, an understudied condition that affects approximately 1 out of every 10 fathers, on food insecurity within households, which has been on the rise in the United States since 2000. Utilizing a variety of lagged probit regressions that include both 2- and 4-year time lags, I demonstrate that paternal depression can have an impact distinct from that of maternal depression and find that paternal depression can place households at a 5.8-6.6% greater risk of later household food insecurity. I also investigate a contemporaneous association between paternal depression and food insecurity using a fixed effects model, with inconclusive results. Overall, this study illuminates a significant but previously overlooked factor contributing to food insecurity which could provide the government with another channel with which to tackle the issue.