The Long-Term Effects of Income for At-Risk Infants: Evidence from Supplemental Security Income

Amelia Hawkins, Christopher Hollrah, Sarah Miller, Laura R. Wherry, Gloria Aldana and Mitchell Wong

American Economic Review, 2025, vol. 115, issue 9, 3081-3129

Abstract: The Supplemental Security Income program uses a birth weight cutoff at 1,200 grams to determine eligibility. Using birth certificates linked to administrative records, we find low-income families of infants born just below the cutoff receive higher monthly cash benefits (equal to 27 percent of family income) at ages 0–2 with smaller benefits continuing through age 10. Yet we detect no improvements in health care use and mortality in infancy, nor in health and human capital outcomes as observed through young adulthood for these infants. We also find no improvements for their older siblings.

JEL-codes: I12 I13 I18 I38 J13 J14 J31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1257/aer.20231293

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