Food and Housing Insecurity in College

It is important that students get these needs satisfied so that they can focus more on their studies. When students struggle to get decent housing and food, they get distracted from their school work. Over the years, the issue of food and housing insecurity has drawn much attention among students, community members, and stakeholders in education. Much has been done to curb this problem. However, food and housing insecurity still affects thousands of students across the U. In addition, it was established that the rates of food insecurity ranged between 20% and 40% among the same population (Goldrick-Rab, Jed, and Anthony, 3). Effects of Food and Housing Security on Students and Their Ability to be Successful in Life and School Contrary to what most people believe, food and housing insecurity in institutions of higher learning does not affect only students from low class families.

Studies show that the prices of college attendance is affecting both low-class and middle-class families alike (Broton & Goldrick-Rab, 17). A study conducted by The National Alliance to End Homelessness revealed that every night in the United States, over 500,000 people experience homelessness, with a majority of these being young people aged 18-24 years (Silva et al. The age gap given here constitutes those in institutions of higher learning. This leads to students being behind in their classwork, and in turn results in poor performance. To maintain their performance, these students have to sleep for fewer hours and spent that time reading. Apart from the burden of work, the general worry and frustration associated with food and housing insecurity reduces the extent of focus students can put on classwork.

Having to worry about what one is going to eat next and where they will sleep affects their mental capabilities. Hence, students who are faced by these insecurities end up getting frustrated by their woes. Therefore, the students end up spending a lot on food, or cutting on the number of times they eat per day. Second, students who lack money to buy food have to make do with the little they have. The results of a survey conducted among college students show that they had to revise their eating habits for them to survive with the little they have (Goldrick-Rab et al. Some students opt to maintain the number of times they eat, but eat less amounts of food instead.

Others prefer to reduce the number of meals that they have in a day. The health of students who have food and housing insecurity is also affected by their lifestyles. As already discussed, most of these students opt for part time work. Hence, they attend classes during the day, and work for a number of ways during the night. This lifestyle implies that the students do not get enough hours of sleep on a daily basis. Additionally, the students lack the time to engage in leisure activities of any sought. This keeps them in and out of school, as they struggle to treat these illnesses. Also, it gets them into even more food and housing insecurity, since they use the little money they have to buy drugs rather than food and shelter.