The efficacy of the dependent care deduction at maintaining diet quality

Benjamin Scharadin

Food Policy, 2022, vol. 107, issue C

Abstract: One feature of the SNAP benefits calculation, the Dependent Care Deduction, increases SNAP benefits if a household pays for formal care, allowing for an indirect substitution between household time spent in dependent care and SNAP benefits. Approximately only 3 percent of eligible households utilize the Dependent Care Deduction, despite many eligible households facing significant time constraints. Therefore, I investigate the reduction in childcare time needed for a household to maintain their level of diet quality if they were to select into paid childcare. Using the American Time Use Survey I predict time spent in numerous activities for households in the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey. In particular, I focus on secondary childcare time, time where the caregiver is completing a separate task while responsible for the well-being of a child because it is the dependent care activity reduced most by formal childcare. Estimating a conditional hybrid diet quality production function, I find that the marginal rate of substitution between household income and secondary childcare is higher for lower income levels and more time-constrained households. In addition, I find the necessary reduction in secondary childcare time to hold diet quality constant is approximately 5.3 h per day for all households and 3 h per day for SNAP households, assuming the average cost of one four-year old child in formal care.

Keywords: Supplemental nutrition assistance program; Dependent care deduction; Childcare time; Diet quality; Healthy eating index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D13 I12 I14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfpoli:v:107:y:2022:i:c:s0306919221001846

DOI: 10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102205

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