Welfare and child health: the link between AFDC participation and birth weight

An examination is conducted into the relationship between a mother's participation in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program during pregnancy and the birth weight of her child. AFDC transfers may increase birth weight by increasing income and, hence, by enabling mothers to p...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The American economic review 1993-09, Vol.83 (4), p.971-985
Main Authors: Currie, J, Cole, N
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AFDC
Birth weight
Births
Black people
Childbirth
Children
Children & youth
Economic models
Effects
governmental programs and projects
income transfers
Medicaid
Mothers
Participation
Poverty
Pregnancy
program participants
Public assistance programs
Public health
Regression analysis
social welfare programs
Spouses
Studies
Weight
Welfare economics
welfare services
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Summary:An examination is conducted into the relationship between a mother's participation in the Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) program during pregnancy and the birth weight of her child. AFDC transfers may increase birth weight by increasing income and, hence, by enabling mothers to purchase such inputs as prenatal care that improve birth outcomes. Another reason to expect a positive effect of participation is that AFDC mothers have access to a range of other services from the welfare system. The results suggest that critics of the AFDC program are correct in observing that participation in AFDC is associated with undesirable maternal behaviors. However, it is shown that the association between participation in AFDC and poor pregnancy outcomes disappears when unobservable variables are controlled for.
ISSN:0002-8282
1944-7981