Working Paper: NBER ID: w14306
Authors: Douglas Almond; Hilary W. Hoynes; Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach
Abstract: This paper evaluates the health impact of a signature initiative of the War on Poverty: the roll out of the modern Food Stamp Program (FSP) during the 1960s and early 1970s. Using variation in the month the FSP began operating in each U.S. county, we find that pregnancies exposed to the FSP three months prior to birth yielded deliveries with increased birth weight, with the largest gains at the lowest birth weights. These impacts are evident with difference-in-difference models and event study analyses. Estimated impacts are robust to inclusion of county fixed effects, time fixed effects, measures of other federal transfer spending, state by year fixed effects, and county-specific linear time trends. We also find that the FSP rollout leads to small, but statistically insignificant, improvements in neonatal infant mortality. We conclude that the sizeable increase in income from Food Stamp benefits improved birth outcomes for both whites and African Americans, with larger impacts for births to African American mothers.
Keywords: Food Stamps; Birth Outcomes; Neonatal Mortality; Nutrition
JEL Codes: H51; I1; I3
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Food Stamp Program (FSP) adoption (I38) | changes in maternal behaviors (e.g., smoking) (I12) |
| Food Stamp Program (FSP) adoption (I38) | increased fertility among disadvantaged women (J13) |
| Food Stamp Program (FSP) adoption (I38) | increased birth weight (J13) |
| FSP exposure (G28) | decrease in incidence of low birth weight (<2500 grams) (I14) |
| increase in income from food stamp benefits (H53) | improved birth outcomes (J13) |
| Food Stamp Program (FSP) adoption (I38) | improved neonatal mortality (J13) |