Although the USDA study didn't ask about spending habits, another USDA study on low income households provides an interesting look at how poor people spend their income. Either food was already so abundant that the low income households didn't need any additional food or there were other items which took preference over buying food even when additional food was needed. In 1995, 4.7 percent of surveyed families said they cut the size of a meal or skipped a meal altogether, while in 1998 only 4.2 percent reported doing so. In 1995, 3.1 percent of families reported being hungry at some point because they couldn't afford food, while in 1998 only 2.6 percent reported being hungry. Most importantly, in 1995 1.7 percent of families reported that their children experience some hunger while in 1998 only 1.1 percent of families reported a hungry child.
Hunger appears to be declining in the short term, probably aided by the booming economy.
Nonetheless there are persistent pockets of hunger that include perhaps as many as half a million households. Ironically the USDA and the Clinton administration in general talk from both sides of their mouths on this point. While only 2.6 percent of married couples reported hunger, 11.9 percent of female headed single parent households and 4.8 percent of single parent male-headed households reported hunger. As might be expected the only thing correlated more highly with hunger than single-parent households was low incomes. Only one percent of people making over 185 percent of the poverty level experienced hunger.