{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,28]],"date-time":"2026-03-28T11:30:30Z","timestamp":1774697430486,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":54,"publisher":"Frontiers Media SA","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1768176000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["frontiersin.org"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Front. Public Health"],"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Background<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Food insecurity is a persistent socio-economic challenge in South Africa that was sharply exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This study compares household hunger during the acute pandemic period and the early recovery phase and examines how socio-economic inequalities in food security evolved.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We analyzed five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study\u2014Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM, 2020\u20132021) and the National Food and Nutrition Security Survey (NFNSS, 2022). A harmonized 7-day household hunger indicator was recoded as \u201cno household hunger\u201d and modeled using survey-weighted logistic regression. Socio-economic-related inequality in being hunger-free was assessed using the Erreygers Concentration Index and decomposition analysis, with sensitivity checks for alternative socio-economic status (SES) specifications and model diagnostics.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Hunger peaked at 26.47% in Wave 1 of NIDS-CRAM and declined to 16.07% by Wave 5, before falling to 8.19% in NFNSS. Improvements were uneven; several provinces, notably the Northern Cape, Free State and North West, remained comparatively food insecure. Across all waves and NFNSS, higher SES was strongly associated with a lower risk of hunger, and living in informal or traditional dwellings and larger household size were consistently associated with a higher risk of hunger. Erreygers indices were positive in all periods, indicating pro-rich inequality in food security that intensified during the pandemic and narrowed only modestly post-pandemic, with SES the dominant contributor.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusion<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Although household hunger declined below pandemic peaks, the recovery in food security has been unequal and remains strongly patterned by socio-economic status and place, underscoring the need for structural, equity-focused policy responses.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.3389\/fpubh.2025.1736131","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,12]],"date-time":"2026-01-12T05:42:32Z","timestamp":1768196552000},"update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3389\/crossmark-policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Impact of COVID-19 on household hunger and socio-economic inequality in South Africa: a comparative analysis using NIDS-CRAM (2020\u20132021) and NFNSS 2022 data"],"prefix":"10.3389","volume":"13","author":[{"given":"Akim Tafadzwa","family":"Lukwa","sequence":"first","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Plaxcedes","family":"Chiwire","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Folahanmi Tomiwa","family":"Akinsolu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Paidamoyo","family":"Bodzo","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Denis","family":"Okova","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Sikelela 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