Impact of state cigarette taxes on disparities in maternal smoking during pregnancy

S.S. Hawkins and Christopher Baum

American Journal of Public Health, 2014, vol. 104, issue 8, 1464-1470

Abstract: Objectives. We evaluated the impact of state tobacco control policies on disparities in maternal smoking during pregnancy. Methods. We analyzed 2000-2010 National Vital Statistics System natality files with 17 699 534 births from 28 states and the District of Columbia that used the 1989 revision of the birth certificate. We conducted differences-in-differences regression models to assess whether changes in cigarette taxes and smoke-free legislation were associated with changes in maternal smoking during pregnancy and number of cigarettes smoked. To evaluate disparities, we included interaction terms between maternal race/ethnicity, education, and cigarette taxes. Results. Although maternal smoking decreased from 11.6% to 8.9%, White and Black women without a high school degree had some of the highest rates of smoking (39.7% and 16.4%, respectively). These same women were the most responsive to cigarette tax increases, but not to smoke-free legislation. For every 1.00 cigarette tax increase, low-educated White and Black mothers decreased smoking by nearly 2 percentage points and smoked between 14 and 22 fewer cigarettes per month. Conclusions. State cigarette taxes may be an effective population-level intervention to decrease racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in maternal smoking during pregnancy.

Keywords: adolescent; adult; article; Black person; Caucasian; economics; female; government; health disparity; human; legal aspect; pregnancy; pregnancy complication; psychological aspect; smoking; smoking cessation; socioeconomics; statistics; tax; tobacco; United States; young adult, Adolescent; Adult; African Continental Ancestry Group; European Continental Ancestry Group; Female; Health Status Disparities; Humans; Pregnancy; Pregnancy Complications; Smoking; Smoking Cessation; Socioeconomic Factors; State Government; Taxes; Tobacco Products; United States; Young Adult (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:aph:ajpbhl:10.2105/ajph.2014.301955_2

DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2014.301955

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