How Food and Housing Insecurities Diminish Educational Gains

The rising costs of post-secondary tuition and its implications for equity and accessibility have been a recurring topic on the political agenda for the last decade. Even with grants and scholarships accounted for, the price of college has impelled many to rely on loans and stretch budgets. Fortunately, a push for progress on the matter has succeeded, amongst other things, in enrolling approximately 10 million students from low-income families in college (U.S. Department of Education, 2015).

Yet, we must not forget that for some, tertiary education requires not only the sacrifice of time and tuition fees but the forgoing of basic human necessities. Living within a system of increasing credential demands, the pursuit of higher education is often the only route for those looking to break the cycle of poverty. But to what extent are undergraduates also struggling to afford food and housing while paying off their college fees?

A survey conducted in 2015 by the Wisconsin HOPE Lab concluded that in each of their studies, more than 1 in 2 college students reported that they had some level of food insecurity. Moreover, between 22% and 36% stated that they were hungry but did not eat due to a lack of money. In the long term, this could essentially lead to chronic malnutrition from food scarcity. 

The survey goes on to reveal that approximately half of community college students deal with housing challenges related to difficulty in paying rents and utility bills. This issue is far more severe than often let on as it was also reported that between 6% and 14% of community college students reported having dealt with homelessness as well in the prior year.

The apparent solution to this predicament seems to be working longer hours and seeking assistance from public programs. While this is viable in theory, it can become hard to perform at work when faced with issues such as food and housing insecurities. In addition, there exists a lack of awareness and stigma around aid programs that often discourage their use by those who need it.

Students experiencing food insecurity, in particular, have been proven to encounter increased behavioral and eventual academic issues. Furthermore, food insecurity has been linked to trouble socializing, poor evaluation performance, and a higher prevalence of illness. Seeing that school activities often require an adept ability to communicate, showcase knowledge, and the maintenance of health, it is clear where this begins to reduce the beneficial outputs of education. 

Homeless and residential instabilities also affect coursework performance by creating a sense of isolation on campus for students (Crutchfield, 2012). Eventually, this leads to emotional stress that distracts one from fully engaging in the education process (Ambrose, 2016). 

When a student’s thoughts are consumed with how they are going to live each day as opposed to their education, the mental strain and distress begins to outweigh any benefits of the educational process. This has only been accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, which has caused some to lose the income streams that supported their tuition, rent, and food expenditures. 

Moving forward, it is crucial that we not only take action to combat this issue but inform students of the resources presently available to them. Likewise, EEqual, a youth-led non-profit working to support students in poverty and homelessness, fulfills its goals through our two pillars – perform and inform. By doing so, EEqual is able to turn activism into action and also make an impact with information. This, in turn, ensures that EEqual is working towards its goal of allowing students to achieve their full potential in education regardless of economic status, in an effective manner. 

Human development theory states that in order to learn higher-level skills, an individual’s basic needs must first be met (Alaimo, 2005; Maslow, 1943). Accordingly, no student should ever feel the need to sacrifice the basic essentials just to acquire an education, because “EEqual” education is a right. 

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