Table 23 B. Food Security by Economic Characteristics:                                       46
Households with Ability to Afford Balanced Meals, No Skipped Meals,
Not Eating Less, and Not Skipping Food for Day: 1998
(Numbers in thousands)

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|Characteristics           |          |   Afford   |            |            |            |
|                          |          |  balanced  | No skipped | Not eating |Not skipping|
|                          |          |   meals    |   meals    |    less    |food for day|
|                          |  Total   |------------+------------+------------+------------|
|                          |Households|  Percent   |  Percent   |  Percent   |  Percent   |
|--------------------------+----------+------------+------------+------------+------------|
|All households            |          |            |            |            |            |
|  Total                   |   102,652|        90.3|        95.6|        95.4|        98.8|
|Household income quintile |          |            |            |            |            |
|  Lowest quintile         |    20,520|        78.9|        89.3|        89.2|        96.7|
|  2nd quintile            |    20,527|        86.9|        94.3|        93.7|        98.5|
|  3rd quintile            |    20,538|        92.1|        96.4|        96.4|        99.2|
|  4th quintile            |    20,530|        95.7|        98.4|        98.2|        99.7|
|  Highest quintile        |    20,533|        97.8|        99.5|        99.6|        99.9|
|Household poverty         |          |            |            |            |            |
|  Income below poverty    |    12,648|        72.0|        86.0|        85.4|        95.2|
|  Income above poverty    |    90,003|        92.9|        97.0|        96.8|        99.3|
|Education of householder  |          |            |            |            |            |
|  Not high school graduate|    17,744|        81.3|        92.4|        91.9|        97.7|
|  High school graduate    |    31,111|        89.7|        95.4|        95.0|        98.7|
|  Some college            |    29,009|        91.2|        95.4|        95.2|        98.8|
|  Bachelors or higher     |    24,788|        96.5|        98.4|        98.6|        99.8|
|Occupation of householder |          |            |            |            |            |
|  Executive               |    10,912|        95.6|        98.2|        97.9|        99.9|
|  Professional            |    11,394|        95.5|        98.1|        98.3|        99.7|
|  Technical               |     2,321|        95.2|        97.3|        96.9|        99.2|
|  Sales                   |     7,956|        92.9|        96.2|        95.9|        99.2|
|  Administrative support  |     9,301|        90.5|        94.4|        94.6|        98.8|
|  Service                 |     8,352|        85.0|        93.4|        93.0|        97.8|
|  Farm                    |     1,899|        88.6|        96.4|        95.5|        99.1|
|  Craft                   |     8,663|        91.7|        96.3|        96.0|        98.8|
|  Labor                   |    10,261|        88.7|        95.3|        95.0|        98.6|
|Region                    |          |            |            |            |            |
|  Northeast               |    19,808|        91.0|        96.0|        95.8|        98.6|
|  Midwest                 |    25,144|        91.8|        95.7|        95.6|        99.2|
|  South                   |    36,086|        89.7|        96.0|        95.7|        99.0|
|  West                    |    21,614|        88.9|        94.5|        94.4|        98.3|
|Metropolitan status       |          |            |            |            |            |
|  Central City            |    13,104|        85.4|        92.0|        92.2|        97.6|
|  Metropolitan, outside   |          |            |            |            |            |
|  central city            |    72,974|        91.2|        96.0|        95.8|        99.0|
|  Non-metropolitan        |    16,573|        90.3|        96.5|        96.2|        99.1|
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Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Survey of Income and Program Participation, 1996 Panel, Wave 8