Acton Rachel B, White Christine M, Rynard Vicki L, Hammond David
School of Public Health Sciences, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada.
Public Health Rep. 2025 Aug 20:333549251358655. doi: 10.1177/00333549251358655.
Household income is a common indicator of socioeconomic status in population surveys; however, measures such as perceived income adequacy are increasingly used as alternatives. We used a multicountry dataset to explore the utility of perceived income adequacy as compared with household income, focusing on missing data rates, associations with household food security, and responses from young people versus parents.
We conducted online surveys in 2022-2023 among adults (n = 50 913) and young people (aged 10-17 y; n = 23 013) as part of the International Food Policy Study in Australia, Canada, Chile, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and the United States. We used descriptive analyses to examine missing data for income adequacy and household income adjusted for household size. We used linear regression models to test the association between the income measures, their associations with household food security, and their correspondence in reported income adequacy between young people and parents.
The proportion of missing data was greater for household income (5.3%; n = 2688) than for income adequacy (1.0%; n = 488). Income adequacy and household income were positively correlated ( = 0.25-0.44; < .001 for all countries). Both measures independently predicted household food security ( < .001 for all countries), with a stronger association observed for income adequacy. Family income adequacy reported by young people was strongly associated with parental reports ( = 0.47-0.62; < .001 for all).
Perceived income adequacy may be preferrable to traditional household income measures for assessing the effect of financial position on health-related outcomes, particularly among young people and older or retired populations, for whom household income may be difficult to report.
在人口调查中，家庭收入是社会经济地位的常用指标；然而，诸如感知收入充足程度等指标正越来越多地被用作替代指标。我们使用一个多国数据集来探讨感知收入充足程度与家庭收入相比的效用，重点关注缺失数据率、与家庭粮食安全的关联以及年轻人与父母的回答情况。
作为澳大利亚、加拿大、智利、墨西哥、英国和美国国际粮食政策研究的一部分，我们在2022年至2023年期间对成年人（n = 50913）和年轻人（10至17岁；n = 23013）进行了在线调查。我们使用描述性分析来检查收入充足程度和根据家庭规模调整后的家庭收入的缺失数据。我们使用线性回归模型来测试收入指标之间的关联、它们与家庭粮食安全的关联以及年轻人和父母报告的收入充足程度的对应情况。
家庭收入的缺失数据比例（5.3%；n = 2688）高于收入充足程度的缺失数据比例（1.0%；n = 488）。收入充足程度与家庭收入呈正相关（所有国家的r = 0.25 - 0.44；P <.001）。这两个指标均独立预测家庭粮食安全（所有国家的P <.001），且观察到收入充足程度的关联更强。年轻人报告的家庭收入充足程度与父母的报告密切相关（所有国家的r = 0.47 - 0.62；P <.001）。
在评估财务状况对健康相关结果的影响时，感知收入充足程度可能比传统家庭收入指标更可取，特别是在年轻人以及家庭收入可能难以报告的老年人或退休人群中。
