A Complex Link: Food Insecurity, Income Loss, and Job Loss

and severe food insecurity increased for everyone, except for the bottom quintile in Gaza, which was already facing very high food insecurity rates. Notably, the prevalence of moderate and severe food insecurity for the bottom quintile in the West Bank is lower than food insecurity for the richest 20 percent in the Gaza in 2020.

A Complex Link: Food Insecurity, Income Loss, and Job Loss

A final question considers what might be the link between changes in income and employment and changes in food insecurity. The pandemic has shown that even the better-off households were vulnerable to food insecurity after a negative shock to incomes. Using the FAO’s Food Insecurity Experience Scale, we calculate the probability of each household being food insecure in 2018 and during the 2020 lockdown, and then analyze whether changes in the household’s income and in its main income earner’s employment are correlated with changes in food insecurity. We used the probability of being food insecure in 2018 as a proxy for the probability of being food insecure before lockdown.

Our results show that self-reported income loss is correlated with higher food insecurity during the lockdown—across the whole expenditure distribution. Overall, food insecurity for the West Bank and Gaza increased from 23.5 percent in the 2018 Socio-Economic and Food Security Survey to 33.8 percent in the 2020 RAPS. However, food insecurity is higher among households whose income decreased, both in the West Bank and in Gaza. Within households where income decreased during the lockdown, food insecurity prevalence increased compared with 2018 levels: 18 percentage points in the West Bank and 8 points in Gaza (figure 3.13). Although the increase is stronger in the West Bank, the baseline food insecurity in Gaza was already high, at 54 percent in 2018. Food insecurity in Gaza in 2018 was higher among households whose income decreased during the period of emergency.

The increase in food insecurity during the lockdown is related to income losses across the whole expenditure distribution, even among households in the highest quintiles. Households across all expenditure levels saw their food insecurity increase in 2020 if their income decreased during the lockdown, including the richest households (figure 3.14). Almost 40 percent of households whose income decreased in the bottom quintile in the West Bank were food insecure during the lockdown. The increase in food insecurity is common to all households that lost income In Gaza, households whose income decreased also faced higher food insecurity during the lockdown than households that belong to the