Mothers as Insurance: Family Spillovers in WIC

Marianne Bitler, Janet Currie, Hilary Hoynes, Krista Ruffini, Lisa Schulkind and Barton Willage

No 30112, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a widely used program. Previous research shows that WIC improves birth outcomes, but evidence about impacts on children and families is limited. We use a regression discontinuity leveraging an age five when children become ineligible for WIC and examine nutritional and laboratory outcomes for adults and children. We find little impact on children who aged out of the program. But among adult women caloric intake falls and food insecurity increases, suggesting that mothers protect children by consuming less themselves. We find no effect on others in the household.

JEL-codes: H51 H53 I18 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-dem and nep-hea
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Published as Marianne Bitler & Janet Currie & Hilary Hoynes & Krista Ruffini & Lisa Schulkind & Barton Willage, 2023. "Mothers as Insurance: Family Spillovers in WIC," Journal of Health Economics, .

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Journal Article: Mothers as insurance: Family spillovers in WIC (2023)
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