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Is a WIC Start a Better Start? Evaluating WIC's Impact on Infant Health Using Program Introduction / Hilary W. Hoynes, Marianne E. Page, Ann Huff Stevens.
- Format:
- Book
- Author/Creator:
- Hoynes, Hilary W.
- Series:
- Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w15589.
- NBER working paper series no. w15589
- Language:
- English
- Physical Description:
- 1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);
- Place of Publication:
- Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2009.
- Summary:
- The goal of federal food and nutrition programs in the United States is to improve the nutritional well-being and health of low income families. A large body of literature evaluates the extent to which the Supplemental Program for Women Infants and Children (WIC) has accomplished this goal, but most studies have been based on research designs that compare program participants to non-participants. If selection into these programs is non-random then such comparisons will lead to biased estimates of the program's true effects. In this study we use the rollout of the WIC program across counties to estimate the impact of the program on infant health. We find that the implementation of WIC lead to an increase in average birthweight and a decrease in the fraction of births that are classified as low birthweight. We find no evidence that these estimates are driven by changes in fertility. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the initiation of WIC lead to a ten percent increase in the birthweight of infants born to participating mothers.
- Notes:
- Print version record
- December 2009.
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