Grandparenting and Food Insecurity in the US

In this seminar, Professor Madonna Harrington Meyer of Syracuse University discussed a common problem in the United States, that many grandparents who care for their grandchildren face food insecurity. Her talk explained how, generally, the more care grandparents provide, the more likely they are to be food insecure. This finding holds true whether they live in the same or separate households as grandchildren. Prof. Meyer co-authored a 2025 study consisting of in-depth interviews with 63 low-income adults ages 60 and older, which suggests that the factors contributing to food insecurity among grandparents include a commitment to feeding the grandchildren first, insufficient income, challenges navigating food assistance programs, unreliable or unaffordable transportation, limited access to nutritious food, and declining health and mobility. Responses to food insecurity must address these factors more fully.

Madonna Harrington Meyer is a University Professor, professor of sociology at the Maxwell School of Public Affairs, and Laura J. and L. Douglas Meredith Professor of Teaching Excellence at Syracuse University. She is a senior research associate at the Center for Policy Research, Faculty Affiliate at the Aging Studies Institute, and Faculty Research Affiliate at the Lerner Center. She is the author of six books including Food for Thought: Understanding Older Adult Food Insecurity (2025) with Colleen M. Heflin. Her scholarly articles appear in American Sociological Review, Journal of Health and Social Behavior, Gender & Society, and Social Problems, and her research has been covered by major media publications including the New York Times, NPR, US News & World Report, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. In 2016 she received the American Sociological Association Section on Aging and the Life Course Matilda White Riley Distinguished Scholar Award.

This virtual seminar is part of WAPPP’s weekly fall series Exploring Work and Family, led by WAPPP co-director Hannah Riley Bowles. Attendance is open to all.