Open Access Peer-reviewed Research Article

An evaluation of social assistance programs on infant health

Article Sidebar

Yearly average infant mortality rates
Download PDF
Submitted   Jun 7, 2020
Published   Aug 12, 2020
Issue    Vol 2 No 1 (2020)
DOI   10.25082/SWSW.2020.01.002

Views

2642

Downloads

1391

Citations

PlumX Metrics

Main Article Content

Jeffrey Swanson corresponding author
Florida Agency for Health Administration, Tallahassee, FL 32308, USA
Johany Chavez
Keiser University, Tallahassee, FL 32309, USA

Abstract

Policymakers have been debating the value of social assistance programs, specifically whether they create a dependence resulting in unnecessary waste. We examine the impact of targeted social assistance programs on infant health, while also accounting for variations in sociodemographic and economic factors across the nation. Using information from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), we combine information on infant health with data on state social assistance programs taken mostly from the University of Kentucky’s Center for Poverty Research between the years 1998 and 2015 for all US states. We find that an increase in TANF and SNAP generosity within a state is associated with an improvement in infant health. Our findings demonstrate the need for a social safety net to help the less fortunate and keep a productive society healthy.

Keywords
policy evaluation, welfare, social assistance, public policy, health policy

Article Details

Supporting Agencies
None
How to Cite
Swanson, J., & Chavez, J. (2020). An evaluation of social assistance programs on infant health. Social Work and Social Welfare, 2(1), 53-62. https://doi.org/10.25082/SWSW.2020.01.002
Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

References

  1. Vedung E. Public Policy and Program Evaluation. Routledge, 2017. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315127767
  2. Kim AS and Jennings ET. Effects of us states’ social welfare systems on population health. Policy Studies Journal, 2009, 37(4): 745-767. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1541-0072.2009.00333.x
  3. Aber JL, Bennett NG, Conley DC, et al. The effects of poverty on child health and development. Annual Review of Public Health, 1997, 18(1): 463-483. https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.publhealth.18.1.463
  4. Mathews TJ AND Macdorman MF. Infant Mortality Statistics From the 2013 Period Linked Birth/Infant Death Data Set. National vital stats reports: from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Stats, National Vital Stats System, 2006, 54(14): 1-29. https://doi.org/10.1037/e558952006-001
  5. Johnson NE and Zaki KP. Racial and residential differences in U.S. infant death rates: A temporal analysis. Rural Sociology, 1988, 53(2): 207-219.
  6. Racine AD. Child poverty and the health care system. Academic Pediatrics, 2016, 16(3): S83-S89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.acap.2015.12.002
  7. Strully KW, Rehkopf DH and Xuan Z. Effects of prenatal poverty on infant health: State earned income tax credits and birth weight. American Sociological Review, 2010, 75(4): 534-562. https://doi.org/10.1177/0003122410374086
  8. Komro KA, Livingston MD, Markowitz S, et al. The effect of an increased minimum wage on infant mortality and birth weight. American Journal of Public Health, 2016, 106(8): 1514-1516. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2016.303268
  9. Woolf SH and Braveman P. Where health disparities begin: The role of social and economic determinants-and why current policies may make matters worse. Health Affairs, 2011, 30(10): 1852-1859. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2011.0685
  10. Conley D and Springer KW.Welfare state and infant mortality. American Journal of Sociology, 2001, 107(3): 768-807. https://doi.org/10.1086/338781
  11. Miller MK, Voth DE and Danforth DM. The medical care system and community malady: Rural, urban, and suburban variations in impact. Rural Sociology, 1982, 47(4): 634- 654.
  12. Sherman A and Trisi D. Safety net more effective against poverty than previously thought. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2015.
  13. Almond D, Hoynes HW and Schanzenbach DW. Inside the war on poverty: The impact of food stamps on birth outcomes. The Review of Economics and Statistics, 2011, 93(2): 387-403. https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00089
  14. Hoynes HW and Schanzenbach DW. Consumption responses to in-kind transfers: Evidence from the introduction of the food stamp program. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, 2009, 1(4): 109-139. https://doi.org/10.1257/app.1.4.109
  15. Floyd I, Pavetti L and Schott L. Policy brief: TANF reaching few poor families, 2017. http://www.cbpp.org/research/family-income-support/tanf-continues-to-weaken-as-a-safety-net
  16. Leonard J and Mas A. Welfare reform, time limits, and infant health. Journal of Health Economics, 2008, 27(6): 1551-1566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2008.05.013
  17. Hanson K and Andrews M. State variations in the food stamp benefit reduction rate for earnings. Economic Information Bulletin Number 46, United States Department of Agriculture, 2009.
  18. Steven Carlson and Zo¨e Neuberger. WIC works: Addressing the nutrition and health needs of low-income families for 40 years. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, 2015.
  19. Hoynes H, Page M and Stevens AH. Can targeted transfers improve birth outcomes?: Evidence from the introduction of the WIC program. Journal of Public Economics, 2011, 95(7-8): 813-827. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2010.12.006
  20. Kubik JD. Fiscal federalism and welfare policy: The role of states in the growth of child SSI. National Tax Journal, 2003, 56(1): 61-79. https://doi.org/10.17310/ntj.2003.1.04
  21. Holahan J, Coughlin T, Ku L, et al. Insuring the poor through section 1115 Medicaid waivers. Health Affairs, 1995, 14(1): 199-216. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.14.1.199
  22. Chen A, Oster E and Williams H. Why is infant mortality higher in the united states than in Europe? American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 2016, 8(2): 89-124. https://doi.org/10.1257/pol.20140224
  23. Bell A and Jones K. Explaining fixed effects: Random effects modeling of time- series cross-sectional and panel data. Political Science Research and Methods, 2015, 3(1): 133- 153, 2015. https://doi.org/10.1017/psrm.2014.7
  24. Klarner C, Mao X and Buchanan S. Business interest group power and temporary assistance to needy families. Social Science Quarterly, 2007, 88(1): 104-119. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6237.2007.00449.x
  25. Plotnick RD andWinters RF. A politico-economic theory of income redistribution. American Political Science Review, 1985, 79(2): 458-473. https://doi.org/10.2307/1956660
  26. Lukens G. State variation in health care spending and the politics of state Medicaid policy. Journal of Health Politics, Policy, and Law, 2014, 39(6): 1213-1251. https://doi.org/10.1215/03616878-2822634
  27. Ewalt JAG and Jennings ET. The great recession and social welfare spending in the American states. International Review of Public Administration, 2014, 19(3): 308-323. https://doi.org/10.1080/12294659.2014.966887
  28. Baird S, Friedman J and Schady N. Aggregate income shocks and infant mortality in the developing world. Review of Economics and Statistics, 2011 93(3): 847-856. https://doi.org/10.1162/REST_a_00084
  29. Goetz SJ and Debertin DL. Rural-urban locational choices of medical doctors: A county-level analysis. Review of Agricultural Economics, 1996, 18(4): 547-563. https://doi.org/10.2307/1349589
  30. Patrick SW, Warner KE, Pordes E, et al. Cigarette tax increase and infant mortality. Pediatrics, 2016, 137(1): 1-8. https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2015-2901
  31. Orzechowski W and Walker R. The tax burden on tobacco: Historical compilation, Tobacco Tax Council, 2016.
  32. Hero R. Multiple theoretical traditions in American politics and racial policy inequality. Political Research Quarterly, 2003, 56(4): 401-408. https://doi.org/10.1177/106591290305600402
  33. Soss J, Fording RC and Schram SF. The color of devolution: Race, federalism, and the politics of social control. American Journal of Political Science, 2008, 52(3): 536-553. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5907.2008.00328.x
  34. Hero RE and Tolbert CJ. A racial/ethnic diversity interpretation of politics and policy in the states of the U.S. American Journal of Political Science, 1996, 40(3): 851-871. https://doi.org/10.2307/2111798
  35. Farag M, Nandakumar AK,Wallack S, et al. Health expenditures, health outcomes and the role of good governance. International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, 2013, 13(1): 33-52. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10754-012-9120-3
  36. Smithson M and Verkuilen J. A better lemon squeezer? Maximum-likelihood regression with beta-distributed dependent variables. Psychological methods, 2006, 11(1): 54. https://doi.org/10.1037/1082-989X.11.1.54