Working Paper: NBER ID: w24832
Authors: Corneliu Bolbocean; Frances A. Tylavsky; James E. West
Abstract: A large body of literature suggests that the first years of life are critical for long-term economic, health and social outcomes. However, the effect of public programs on early life skills formation is largely unknown due to data limitations. In this paper we use novel data from a large longitudinal prospective cohort study to estimate the effects of WIC, SNAP, and home visitation programs on early life outcomes up to two years of age. We find that participation in these programs has a positive and statistically significant effect on language development and boosts early life noncognitive outcomes.
Keywords: WIC; SNAP; home visitation; early childhood development; noncognitive skills
JEL Codes: H5; I1; I38
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Mother's participation in WIC (I38) | Early noncognitive skill formation (J24) |
| Mother's participation in WIC (I38) | Receptive communication z-scores (C29) |
| Mother's participation in WIC (I38) | Expressive communication z-scores (C29) |
| Participation in SNAP (H53) | BSID-III scores (Y10) |
| Participation in home visitation programs (J13) | BSID-III scores (Y10) |