The Effect of Welfare Reform on Prenatal Care and Birth Weight / Robert Kaestner, Won Chan Lee.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kaestner, Robert.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Lee, Won Chan.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w9769.

NBER working paper series no. w9769

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2003.

Summary:

Welfare reform has resulted in a dramatic decline in welfare caseloads and some have claimed that a significant number of low-income women may be without health insurance as a result. The loss of insurance may reduce low-income, pregnant women's health care utilization, and this may adversely affect infant health. Welfare reform also may affect healthcare utilization and health of pregnant women and infants because of welfare-induced changes in family disposable income, time available for health investments, and levels of stress. In this paper we examine the effect of welfare reform on prenatal care utilization and birth weight of low-educated women and their infants. We find that a 50 percent reduction in the caseload, which is similar to that which occurred in the 1990s, is associated with a zero to seven percent decrease in first trimester prenatal care; a zero to five percent decrease in the number of prenatal care visits; and a zero to 10 percent increase in low birth weight.

Notes:

Print version record

June 2003.