The Sexism in Food Insecurities

Ishani Agrawal, 10th grade

11/25/2025

In our society, women are consistently disadvantaged, which is why it should be no surprise that globally, women are disproportionately affected by food insecurities. In fact, this issue has been in an upwards trend, with no indication that necessary changes are being made.

To give a sense of the depth of this inequality, here are some statistics:

• According to the UN World Food Program, nearly 60% of all people facing starvation or extreme hunger are women and girls. 

• In their annual Hunger Report, the Capital Area Food Bank, a non-profit that serves the Washington Metropolitan Area, reported that this year, 55% of food insecure people identified as female, while only 42% identified as male.

• Single-parent, female-headed households have a 31.6% chance of being food insecure in contrast to single-parent, male-headed households who have a 21.7% chance.

The unequal impacts of food insecurity is very real, even if it is not commonly discussed. Here are two reasons that this issue exists:

1. Lack of Fair Pay

Across the globe, women are consistently paid less for the same amount, or even more, work than men who hold that same job. In a study by Institute for Women’s Policy Research, it was found that women are paid 84 cents for every dollar a man makes, a wage gap that has a significant impact. Additionally, women do 2.6 times more unpaid care and domestic work than men do, further decreasing annual income. The majority of people who are food insecure are employed, however they don’t make enough money to reliably pay for food. Therefore, women are more often affected by food insecurities because they simply do not make enough money in comparison to men.

2.  Lack of Equal Rights

Sexism has been a persistent problem in our global society, and this issue continues to impact all aspects of women’s lives. For example, although over half of the world’s agricultural workers are women, less than one in five landowners are women, resulting in conditions that prevent women from making financial decisions.

Furthermore, many social barriers prevent women from being able to financially support themselves and their family. Namely, continued practices of child marriages and an inability to access and abortion have lasting implications on a woman’s ability to make decisions about their personal lives, and therefore their financial stability. More than that, but many women have to worry about paid maternity leave, which is especially significant if they are single mothers because they will be less able to pay their bills while also paying for enough food.

Food insecurities have long been overlooked in our society, and it has only been recently when SNAP benefits have been threatened in the United States that this issue has been discussed. However, in reality, food insecurities shouldn’t be regulated to the back burner because they are so interconnected with other major social justice issues, including institutional sexism. By creating more federal programs to support those dealing with food insecurities and spreading awareness, food insecurities and other justice issues can be combated, thereby creating a better future for women and single mothers.

Works Cited

Capital Area Food Bank. “2025 Hunger Report.” Capital Area Food Bank, Capital Area Food Bank, October 2025, https://hunger-report.capitalareafoodbank.org/report-2025/#food-insecurity-trends-in-greater-washington.

Feeley, Maris. “Ending Hunger is a Gender Equity Issue.” FRAC Chat, Food Research & Action Center, https://frac.org/blog/ending-hunger-gender-equity-issue.

Lutz, William. “New Report: Women Earn Less than Men in All Occupations, Even Ones Commonly Held by Women - IWPR.” Institute for Women's Policy Research, 7 March 2024, https://iwpr.org/new-report-women-earn-less-than-men-in-all-occupations-even-ones-commonly-held-by-women/.

World Food Program USA. “Women are Hungrier.” World Food Program USA, 2025, https://wfpusa.org/work/people/women/.