More than a third of Gen Z and Millennials have difficulty affording food
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — According to the May 2024 Consumer Food Insights Report (CFI), more than 80% of consumers perceive food prices as having increased slightly or significantly over the past 12 months.
The report, based on a survey by Purdue University’s Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability, assesses food spending, consumer satisfaction and values, support for agriculture and food policies, and trust in information sources. Purdue experts surveyed and assessed 1,200 consumers across the United States.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Price Index measure of food inflation shows food prices rose 2.2% over the 12-month period, down from 4.4% a year ago. “Although food inflation has slowed in 2024, consumers are beginning to feel the cumulative effects of the high inflation they have experienced,” said Joseph Balagtas, the report’s lead author, a professor of agricultural economics at Purdue University and director of CFDAS.
The May CFI survey asked consumers to report their experiences and reactions to rising food prices over the past 12 months. The survey also included questions previously asked in February and July 2022 to explore how consumers have adapted their grocery shopping in response to rising food prices.
How do prices of goods and services change and how do they compare to perceptions of food prices?
Over the past 12 months, how have prices changed for you and your household for the following expenses? Consumer Food Insights, May 2024. Source: Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability. Download Image
The researchers found that the most common shopping adaptations to food inflation were looking for sales and discounts, switching to cheaper generic brands, and purchasing less non-essential foods like ice cream.
“We also wanted to understand how perceived changes in food prices compared to perceptions of price changes in other common household expenses,” Balagtas said. “Consumers were more likely to report price increases for food than for any other good or service in the economy.”
Similarly, when asked about the goods or services that have increased in price the most year-over-year, 56% of consumers chose “food,” even though insurance, housing and child care costs have risen at a faster pace than food in the past year, according to official inflation data. “Food price increases may be more noticeable to consumers because they shop for food more frequently. Media attention on food may also be a factor,” Balagtas said.
The May survey categorised consumers into Generation Z (born after 1996), Millennials (born between 1981 and 1996), Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980) and Baby Boomers and older (born before 1965), and revisited generational differences analysed in previous reports.
“When asked about their recent consumer experiences, one area where there is a stark generational difference is the financial resources consumers are relying on to buy food,” Balagtas said. “About 37% of Gen Z and Millennial consumers said they used their savings or went into debt to buy food in the past year, compared to 28% of Gen Xers and just 13% of Baby Boomers and older consumers. It’s alarming that more than a third of younger people are struggling to afford food.”
Food insecurity is highest among Gen Z adults, with nearly one-third of consumers in this group also reporting issues accessing quality food – a much higher food insecurity rate than older Gen X (13%) and Baby Boomer and older consumers (5%).
“Although further research is needed, these results are likely in part driven by life stage effects, as increasing income and wealth are drivers of food security, which tend to increase with age,” Balagtas said.
How are rising food prices changing Americans’ spending habits?
Grocery shopping changes in response to rising food prices, February 2022, July 2022, and May 2024. Note: Respondents could select up to three options, so percentages sum to more than 100%. Source: Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability. Download Image
The latest Consumer Price Index measure of food price inflation came in at 2.2% in April, unchanged from March. Inflation has hovered around 2.2% for the past three months and appears to be stable, said Elijah Bryant, a research analyst at CFDAS and co-author of the report.
“Based on the center’s data, consumers’ food inflation expectations of 6.2% over the past year and 3.6% for next year remain higher than the CPI estimates,” Bryant said, suggesting that consumers’ experience with food prices differs from official measures.
“Consumer inflation expectations continue to hover around 6 percent, indicating that the dramatic rise in food inflation over the past few years may still be affecting consumer food price sentiment. However, consumers have been consistently more optimistic about future food prices compared to their inflation expectations over the past 12 months,” Bryant said.
Consumers are asked to assign 100 points to six attributes — taste, affordability, nutrition, availability, environmental impact and social responsibility — based on the importance of each in their grocery purchasing decisions. Although the CFDAS began measuring food values on a quarterly basis starting in January 2024, researchers have yet to observe any significant changes in the importance levels of these attributes.
About Purdue University
Purdue University is a public research institution that demonstrates excellence at scale. Ranked among the top 10 public universities in the U.S. and with two universities ranked in the top four, Purdue discovers and disseminates knowledge with unmatched quality and scale. More than 105,000 students learn at Purdue in a variety of ways and places, with nearly 50,000 learning face-to-face at the West Lafayette campus. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition for 13 consecutive years. With the first integrated urban campus in Indianapolis, the Mitchell E. Daniels Jr. School of Business, Purdue Computing, the One Health initiative and more, learn how Purdue never stops for its next big leap at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.
Writer: Steve Coppes
Media Contact: Devyn Raver, draver@purdue.edu
Sources: Joseph Balagtas, balagtas@purdue.edu, Elijah Bryant, ehbryant@purdue.edu.
Agriculture Communications: 765-494-8415;
Maureen Manier, Dean, mmanier@purdue.edu
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