The Effects of Lump-Sum Food Benefits During the Covid-19 Pandemic on Spending, Hardship, and Health

Abstract

This paper examines how providing families with lump-sum in-kind assistance during the pandemic affected food hardship, economic well-being, and maternal health. We study the introduction of a new program, P-EBT, that provided grocery vouchers worth approximately $300 per student during spring and summer 2020. Using cross-state variation in program timing, we find that families spent $18-42 per student per week in the 6 weeks after benefit receipt. Household food insufficiency and children’s food insecurity among low-income families declined by 27-49% in the month following receipt, and maternal mental health improved by 0.9 standard deviation.

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