Inside the War on Poverty: The Impact of Food Stamps on Birth Outcomes

55 Pages Posted: 8 Sep 2008 Last revised: 5 Aug 2022

See all articles by Douglas Almond

Douglas Almond

Columbia University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Hilary Williamson Hoynes

University of California, Berkeley; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

Northwestern University - School of Education and Social Policy; NBER

Date Written: September 2008

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.

Suggested Citation

Almond, Douglas Vincent and Hoynes, Hilary Williamson and Schanzenbach, Diane Whitmore, Inside the War on Poverty: The Impact of Food Stamps on Birth Outcomes (September 2008). NBER Working Paper No. w14306, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1264568

Douglas Vincent Almond (Contact Author)

Columbia University - Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Department of Economics ( email )

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Hilary Williamson Hoynes

University of California, Berkeley ( email )

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IZA Institute of Labor Economics

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Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach

Northwestern University - School of Education and Social Policy ( email )

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NBER ( email )

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