Frederick Driesen, BS1
Francesco Acciai, PhD 2
Anna Josephson, PhD 1
Aggie J. Yellow Horse, PhD 3
Sarah Martinelli, MS, RD, SNS 2
Punam Ohri-Vachaspati RD, PhD 2

Job Disruptions During the
First Four Months of the COVID-19
Pandemic and Their Impacts on
1 Department of Agriculture and Resource Economics, University of Arizona
Food Security in Arizona
2 College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University
3 School of Social Transformation, Arizona State University

Introduction
With more than 19 million confirmed COVID-19 cases across the United States1 and over 500,000 in Arizona1
as of December 2020, the ongoing pandemic has had
devastating impacts on local, national, and global
economies. Prior to the pandemic (February 2020),
based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, the
unemployment rate in Arizona was 6.5%,2 compared
to 4.9% at the national level.3 Since the beginning of
the COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020), the United
States has experienced striking increases in the
unemployment rate, reaching 13.2% in April. Similarly,
in Arizona, the unemployment rate jumped to over
13.5% in April. The unemployment rates have since
declined both nationally and in Arizona but remain
higher compared to February 2020. In November 2020
(the most recent data available), the national unemployment rate was 6.7%, while in Arizona the rate was
7.8%—the 10th highest unemployment rate among all
U.S. states.4
Using data collected from a representative sample of
620 Arizona residents, this brief provides an overview
on changes in employment status since the onset of the
COVID-19 pandemic (March 2020) and their impacts
on food security in Arizona. Changes in employment
status included job loss, being furloughed, as well as
experiencing a reduction in hours and/or income.
Throughout the brief, we refer to these changes in
employment status as job disruptions. We examined
the prevalence of such disruptions among different
population groups, as well as their associations with
food security, and food-related concerns and difficulties
faced by Arizona households.

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Key Findings
• Over a third of Arizona households (36%)
experienced a job disruption in the first four
months of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• A much higher proportion of Hispanic
households (59%) experienced a job disruption
than non-Hispanic white households (22%).
• Low-income households, already at a disadvantage, were among the most impacted, with
almost half of the households making less than
$25,000 (in 2019) experiencing a job disruption
during the pandemic.
• Prevalence of food insecurity was considerably
higher among households that experienced a job
disruption (57%) than among households that
did not experience any job disruption (19%).
• Almost three quarters of Hispanic households
with job disruption faced food insecurity
• Since the beginning of the pandemic,
households worried about the cost, sufficiency,
and safety of food, as well as access to food
assistance programs. These concerns were
heightened among households that experienced
a job disruption.

December 2020

Job Disruptions and Food Security in Arizona During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Changes in Employment Status
among Arizona Households
Over a third of Arizona households experienced a job
disruption in the first four months of the COVID-19
pandemic.

was less than $25,000 experienced a job disruption,
while households with higher incomes reported a
progressively lower rate of job disruptions (Figure 3).
Figure 3. Changes in employment status in Arizona
since March 2020 by household income

• Since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, 36%
of respondents reported that they or someone in their
household experienced some type of job disruption,
including job loss, being furloughed, or having their
hours and/or income reduced (Figure 1).
• In our sample, almost one in five respondents
stated that they or someone in their household had
experienced a job loss since the onset of the pandemic
(19%) (Figure 1), which is similar to estimates based
on our national level analysis.5
Figure 1. Changes in employment status in Arizona
since March 2020

• A much higher proportion of Hispanic households
(59%) reported experiencing a job disruption than
non-Hispanic white households (22%), and all other
households combined (42%) (Figure 2).
Figure 2. Changes in employment status in Arizona
since March 2020 by race/ethnicity

Note: The sample sizes for non-Hispanic Blacks, Asians,
Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, American Indians and
Alaska Natives, and other/multiple races were too small to
analyze separately. Therefore, these groups were combined
into the “Other” category.

• Job disruptions disproportionately affected lower
income households. Almost half (49%) of Arizona
households which have annual household income

2

Job Disruptions and Food Security
Experiencing job disruptions during the first four months
of the pandemic was associated with higher rates of
food insecurity.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)
defines food insecurity as a lack of consistent access to
enough food for an active, healthy life.6 We measured
food insecurity using the USDA’s validated six-item
household food insecurity survey module.7 Respondents
who answered affirmatively to two or more of the food
insecurity questions were considered food insecure.
Similar to the job disruption question, the six food
security questions referred to the first four months of
the COVID-19 pandemic.
Figure 4. Food insecurity rates by changes in
employment status in Arizona since March 2020

• Overall, 33% of households in our sample were
food insecure during the first four months of the
COVID-19 pandemic. The food insecurity rate
was considerably higher among households that
experienced a job disruption (57%) than among
households that did not experience a job disruption
(19%) (Figure 4).

December 2020

Job Disruptions and Food Security in Arizona During the COVID-19 Pandemic

• Job disruptions were associated with considerably
higher rates of food insecurity for households of all
racial/ethnic groups. (Figure 5).

Figure 6. Food-related worries of households by
change in employment status

• Food insecurity was more prevalent among Hispanic
households, regardless of changes in employment
status (Figure 5).
• The food insecurity rate for Hispanic households that
experienced a job disruption was the highest (74%),
followed by the rate for non-Hispanic white households that experienced a job disruption (41%)—a
rate about 3 times higher than that for non-Hispanic
white households without job disruptions (Figure 5).
Figure 5. Percentage of food insecure households by
changes in employment status and race/ethnicity

Note: The sample sizes for non-Hispanic Blacks, Asians,
Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders, American Indians and
Alaska Natives, and other/multiple races were too small to
analyze separately. Therefore, these groups were combined
into the “Other” category.

Food-related Concerns and Behavioral
Adaptions, by Household Job
Disruption Status

• Most households reported spending more time
cooking (85% for households without job disruptions
and 83% for households with job disruptions),
throwing away less food than normal (84% and
78%, respectively), and maintaining a two-week
supply of food (79% and 73%, respectively). (Figure 7).
• Compared to households that did not experience
any job disruptions, households that experienced a
job disruption were more likely to buy more items in
a single shopping trip (64% vs. 54%) and were less
likely to maintain their normal shopping habits (66%
vs. 81%) (Figure 7).
Figure 7. Food-related behavioral changes for
households by change in employment status

Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Arizona households were worried about food costs, food safety, and food
sufficiency. They also modified some of their food-related
behaviors.

• Most respondents, regardless of having experienced
any form of job disruptions, were concerned that food
would become too expensive for them to afford (82%
for households with a job disruption, 62% for households without a job disruption) (Figure 6).
• The majority of households that experienced a job
disruption were also worried that they could lose
access to food assistance programs (58%), there
would not be enough food in the country (57%), food
would become unsafe (56%), or that there would not
be enough food in the store (55%) (Figure 6).
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December 2020

Job Disruptions and Food Security in Arizona During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Policy Implications
• There is great uncertainty surrounding the economy
because of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic;
and unemployment rates remain high in Arizona.
Assistance is much needed for families experiencing
job loss, but also for those where members lost
income because of furloughs and reduced hours.
Ongoing assistance is required to mitigate the
negative impacts of all types of job disruptions.
• Outreach for supportive programs and services
should focus on households that are more likely to
be impacted by job disruptions, such as lower-income
households and Hispanic households.
• Our study showed that Arizona households that faced
a job disruption were almost three times as likely
to experience food insecurity. More than half
of the households experiencing job disruption were
also worried about losing access to food assistance
benefits. Government and non-profit agencies
can work together to help facilitate access to and
participation in food assistance programs.
• Households’ worries about cost, sufficiency, and safety
of food, particularly among those experiencing job
disruptions, is a concern that needs attention from
retail and government sectors.

Methods
In July-August 2020, a sample of 620 adult Arizona residents
responded to an online survey of households contacted through a
survey research firm (Qualtrics). Survey respondents were selected
to be representative of Arizona population, with an over-sampling
of respondents from low-income households. The respondents
in the sample reside in 75 different towns, from 15 out of the
16 counties in AZ. Most respondents lived in Maricopa county
(60%), followed by Pima (17%), and Pinal (6%) counties. Respondents were 18-86 years old, with the average age being 47. Half
(49%) of the respondents were from low-income households (i.e.,
with an annual income in 2019 lower than $50,000); 54% were
non-Hispanic white and 34% were Hispanic; 39% had a college
degree; 17% were foreign-born. Participants were asked to answer
questions on a variety of topics including food security, food
access, food assistance program participation, as well as households and individual demographic characteristics. All analyses
were adjusted for sampling weights so that results can be generalized to all Arizona households. The period from March 2019 to

March 10, 2020 was referred to as prior to the pandemic while the
period after March 11, 2020 aims at capturing what has changed
since the pandemic. A series of briefs from this survey are
available at asufoodpolicy.org and nfactresearch.org.

Acknowledgments
This project was supported by a COVID-19 seed grant from the
College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University.

About NFACT
This research is conducted as part of The National Food Access
and COVID Research Team (NFACT). NFACT is a national
collaboration of researchers committed to rigorous, comparative,
and timely food access research during the time of COVID-19.
We do this through collaborative, open access research that
prioritizes communication to key decision-makers while building
our scientific understanding of food system behaviors and policies.
To learn more visit nfactresearch.org.

References
1. Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center,
coronavirus.jhu.edu/us-map. Accessed on 12/29/2020.
2. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Rate in
Arizona [AZURN], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis; fred.stlouisfed.org/series/AZURN.
Accessed on 12/28/2020.
3. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Rate
[UNRATE], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve
Bank of St. Louis; fred.stlouisfed.org/series/UNRATE.
Accessed on 12/28/2020.
4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Unemployment Rates for
States, Seasonally Adjusted, bls.gov/web/laus/laumstrk.htm.
Accessed on 12/28/2020.
5. Acciai F, Belarmino E, Josephson A, Niles M. Changes in
Employment Status and Food Security During the COVID-19
Pandemic. College of Health Solutions, ASU, December 2020;
keep.lib.asu.edu/items/245. Accessed on 12/28/2020.
6. USDA. Definitions of Food Security. United States
Department of Agriculture. Published 2020. ers.usda.gov/
topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/
definitions-of-food-security.aspx. Accessed on 12/28/2020.
7. USDA. U.S. Household Food Security Survey Module:
Six-Item Short Form United States Department of
Agriculture; 2012.

Suggested Citation
Driesen F, Acciai F, Josephson A, Yellow Horse AJ, Martinelli S, Ohri-Vachaspati P. Job Disruptions During the First Four Months
of the COVID-19 Pandemic and Their Impacts on Food Security in Arizona. College of Health Solutions, Arizona State University,
December 2020.

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December 2020