Hunger in America 2014: National Report

Feeding America, the nation's leading domestic hunger-relief organization, has conducted the most comprehensive study of hunger in America every four years since 1993. Like the prior studies, Hunger in America 2014 (HIA 2014), the latest iteration, documents the critical role that the charitable food assistance network plays in supporting struggling families in the United States. Study results are based on surveys of food programs in the charitable food assistance network supported by Feeding America, and clients that access services through that network in 2012-2013. In addition to this report on the Feeding America national network, this study has resulted in 42 state reports and 196 food bank reports detailing network activities on local levels.The current assessment occurs in a period with historically high demand for food assistance. Unemployment and poverty rates have remained high since the Great Recession of 2008, and the number of households receiving nutrition assistance from the federal government's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has increased by approximately 50 percent between 2009 and 2013.Demand for charitable food assistance has also expanded. HIA 2014 finds an increased number of individuals relying on charitable assistance to access nutritious foods for themselves and their families

An evaluation of incentive experiments in a two-phase address-based sample mail survey

"Address-based sampling (ABS) with a two-phase data collection approach has emerged as a promising alternative to random digit dial (RDD) surveys for studying specific subpopulations in the United States. In 2011, the National Household Education Surveys Program Field Test used a two-phase ABS design with a postal or mail screener to identify households with eligible children and a mail topical questionnaire administered to parents of sampled children to collect measures of interest. Experiments with prepaid cash incentives and special mail delivery methods were applied in both phases. For the screener, sampled addresses were randomly designated to receive either 2 dollar or 5 dollar in the initial mailing. During the topical phase, incentives (ranging from 0 dollar to 20 dollar) and delivery methods (First Class Mail or Priority Mail) were assigned randomly but depended on how quickly the household had responded to the screener. The paper first evaluates the effects of incentives on response rates, and then examines incentive levels for attracting the hard-to-reach groups and improving sample composition. The impact of incentive on data collection cost is also examined." (author's abstract