Answer: 47%

From The Atlantic/BLS:

The chart is interesting when you look at it over a 20 year arc (instead of focusing on the short term ups and downs), where seniors have actually increased their dining away from home more than the other age groups (on a percentage basis).

From the Atlantic:

Today’s shoppers are going out to restaurants more often. But they’re also dividing their grocery shopping among several stores, rather than relying on one supermarket. In 2005, two-thirds of shoppers said that their local supermarket was their primary shopping destination, according to the 2016 U.S. Grocery Shopping Trends report from the retail trade group FMI. This year, fewer than half of shoppers do. The hegemony of the supermarket has been broken by the rise of food shopping options, particularly convenience stores, superstores, and online shopping.

Questions for students:

• When thinking about your own spending over the past month, would food be one of your larger expenses?
• Does your family go out to eat on a regular basis?
• How much more do you think your family spends when dining out instead of buying groceries for a meal?
• Why do you think there has been this trend over the past 20 years toward dining out more?

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Check out the NGPF Lesson on Planning a Food Budget!

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.