Food security and part-time work for students: do race and region play a role?

J Am Coll Health. 2022 Aug 23:1-9. doi: 10.1080/07448481.2022.2109033. Online ahead of print.

Abstract

Objective: This study explored the relationship between weekly hours worked and food security among full-time college students in the United States, as well as the extent to which this relationship depends on racial identity and regional location.

Participants/methods: We performed a secondary analysis of data from 1,450 full-time college students in the labor force who completed the 2019 Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey. Moderated multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the data.

Results: We found that among full-time college students in the labor force, working a greater number of hours per week was not related to one's likelihood of being food insecure, with an exception for students who identified as Asian.

Conclusions: These findings highlight the importance of considering the intertwined nature of contributing factors to food security for specific groups of students.

Keywords: Food security; college students; employment; moderated multiple regression; secondary analysis; university.