Utah News Dispatch
Utah refugees disproportionately face food insecurity, especially in these four moments
A “SNAP welcomed here” sign is seen at the entrance to a Big Lots store in Portland, Oregon. (Getty Images)
After jumping through hoops to flee their countries and establish themselves in the United States, refugees disproportionately face another issue while trying to adapt to their new homes — food insecurity. Especially, University of Utah researchers found, in these four moments:
“First, when they found their first job in the U.S. Second, after six months in the U.S., when they had to renew their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) application,” researchers wrote. “Third, when they were no longer receiving caseworkers’ support from resettlement agencies. Fourth, when they faced fluctuations in employment or household expenditures.”
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University of Utah researchers collaborated with resettlement agencies in the state to conduct 36 interviews with refugees between July and September 2024 for a recently published study analyzing their temporal patterns of food insecurity.
Refugees’ answers about the times in which they had the most difficulty affording food shocked Nasser Sharareh, the research assistant professor at the U. who led the study.
Utah refugee resettlement program finds self-sufficiency amid federal funding cuts
“Finding a job can make refugees more food insecure,” Sharareh said in a news release.
While resettlement agencies provide refugees with the necessary tools to become financially independent through jobs, often their first roles in the state are low-paying and unstable. Simultaneously, their earned income disqualifies them from having access to food assistance, like SNAP.
With a paycheck that is still insufficient to cover food expenses, housing and utilities, refugees find themselves in crisis.
The refugees who participated in the study were predominantly in households with children and with an income below 185% of the federal poverty level.
Food insecurity among different refugee groups living in the country can reach up to 85%, six times higher than the general national rate, which was 13.5% in 2023. About 83% of the surveyed participants reported food insecurity experiences in the past year.
Some other factors contributing to food insecurity were language barriers while trying to get a job, or lack of awareness of the country’s food environment and programs, the study says.
While staff at resettlement agencies are well trained, researchers wrote, they have been historically underfunded throughout the country, limiting their ability to address refugees’ needs.
“The impact of these barriers has become even more significant in 2025 and could become worse in the future because the current U.S. administration has suspended refugees’ admission to the U.S. starting January 27, 2025,” the study says. “Consequently, caseworkers’ support has become very limited, as a large portion of resettlement agencies’ funding comes from the Office of Refugee Resettlement based on the number of newly admitted refugees.”
Despite these barriers, according to a 2024 U.S. Department of Health and Human Services report, refugees and asylees have produced a net fiscal impact of $123.8 billion from 2005 to 2019 — meaning that they have contributed more revenue than expenditures to the government, researchers wrote.
And overall, Sharareh added, reducing food insecurity will benefit the economy because of other factors.
“Food insecurity is costing the U.S. health care system more than $53 billion annually,” he said in the release. “So besides having a public health impact, addressing food insecurity can have a positive economic impact on U.S. society.”
