Effects of maternal depression on family food insecurity

•This study estimates effects of maternal depression on food insecurity.•Maternal depression increases young children’s food insecurity by 23–79%.•Maternal depression increases household food insecurity by 11–69%.•Food assistance and other programs appear to play buffering roles.

We use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort to estimate the effects of maternal depression, a condition that is fairly common and can be severe, on food insecurity, a hardship that has increased substantially in the U.S. Using various model specifications, we find convincing evidence that severe maternal depression increases the likelihood that young children experience food insecurity by 23–79%, with estimates depending on model specification and measures of depression and food insecurity. For household food insecurity, the corresponding estimates are 11–69%. We also find that maternal depression increases reliance on several types of public programs, suggesting that the programs play a buffering role.