Easing Cash Assistance Rules During COVID-19 Was Associated With Reduced Days Of Poor Physical And Mental Health

Unemployment rates soared at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, increasing financial stress that can affect physical and mental health. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is the primary cash assistance program for low-income families in the US, with benefits conditional on...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Health affairs (Millwood, Va.) Va.), 2022-11, Vol.41 (11), p.1590-139
Main Authors: Dore, Emily C, Livingston, Melvin D, Shafer, Paul R
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Benefits
Binge drinking
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Direct payments
Drinking behavior
Economic crisis
Economic stress
Education
Employment
Executive orders
Families & family life
Food stamps
Health status
Job requirements
Low income groups
Mental health
Pandemics
Public assistance programs
Public health
Risk analysis
Risk behavior
Risk factors
Risk taking
Sanctions
Secondary schools
Stress
Surveillance
Surveillance systems
Suspension
Unemployment
Welfare policy
Welfare reform
Welfare services
Work
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Summary:Unemployment rates soared at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, increasing financial stress that can affect physical and mental health. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is the primary cash assistance program for low-income families in the US, with benefits conditional on work activities and subject to suspension. However, many states loosened requirements during the pandemic. Using TANF policy data and data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from the period January 2017-December 2020 with a triple-difference design, we found a general protective effect of supportive changes to TANF on poor physical and mental health days and binge drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic for likely TANF participants. For example, providing emergency cash benefits to those not already participating in TANF, waiving work requirements, waiving or pausing sanctions, and automatically recertifying benefits were associated with reductions in the number of mentally unhealthy days. This study provides support for increasing generosity and easing administrative burdens in safety-net programs to buffer against negative impacts of public health and economic crises.
ISSN:0278-2715
1544-5208
DOI:10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00740