Welfare and the Well-Being of Children (Fundamentals of Pure and Applied Economics)

An analysis of eight of the largest US welfare programmes affecting children. These programmes include Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the Food Stamp Program. Medicaid, housing assistance, supplemental feeding programmes such as WIC and School Lunch, Head Start and the Earned Income Tax Credit. Despite the fact that these programmes were designed to serve children, most discussion of welfare reforms focuses on the incentives that the welfare system creates for parents. This analysis represents an evaluation of the evidence regarding the effects of welfare programmes on the children themselves. Programmes such as Medicaid and Head Start have a larger effect on measures of child well-being than cash transfer programs such as AFDC. This suggests an economic rationale for the recent trend towards providing a larger proportion of assistance in-kind. Book Cover......Page 1 Half-Title......Page 2 Title......Page 4 Copyright......Page 5 Contents......Page 6 Introduction to the Series......Page 10 Welfare and the Well-Being of Children......Page 12 INTRODUCTION......Page 14 Part 1: An Overview of Methods, Measures and Programs......Page 16 1. METHODS FOR EVALUATING WELFARE PROGRAMS......Page 18 A. Experiments......Page 19 B. Instrumental Variables, ‘Natural Experiments’, and Selection Corrections......Page 21 C. Fixed Effects and Random Effects Models......Page 26 D. Summary......Page 27 (i) Mortality......Page 30 ii) Birthweight......Page 34 iii) Anthropometrics and Nutritional Status......Page 36 iv) Illnesses......Page 39 v) Preventive Care......Page 40 vi) Activity Limitations......Page 41 B. Test Scores and Scholastic Achievement......Page 42 C. Long-Run Measures of Social Competency......Page 44 D. Other Measures......Page 45 A. An Overview of Spending on Programs that Benefit Children.12......Page 46 i) AFDC......Page 47 iii) Medicaid and Child Health......Page 49 iv) Housing Assistance......Page 52 v) School Lunch, WIC, and Other Child Nutrition Programs19......Page 53 vi) Head Start......Page 55 vii) Tax Credits......Page 56 B. Trends in Caseloads and Expenditures......Page 57 i) Definition of Poverty......Page 60 II) The Anti-Poverty Effectiveness of Welfare Programs......Page 62 D. Spending on Children Compared to Spending on the Elderly......Page 65 E. Summary......Page 68 Part 2: Evaluation of Individual Programs......Page 70 A. Effects of AFDC on Young Children......Page 72 B. Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty and Welfare Dependency......Page 77 II) Intergenerational Transmission of AFDC Participation......Page 78 C. AFDC Effects on Teen Pregnancy and Childbearing......Page 84 D. Summary......Page 85 5. MEDICAID......Page 86 A. Insurance Coverage and Utilization of Care......Page 87 i) The Effects of Medicaid......Page 88 ii) Explaining Racial Differences In Patterns of Utilization......Page 90 iii) The Effects of Medicaid Expansions......Page 91 C. Summary......Page 94 i) Nutrient Availability......Page 96 ii) Individual Nutrient Intakes......Page 98 iii) Reconciling Studies of Household Nutrient Availability with Studies of Individual Intakes......Page 99 i) Marginal Propensities to Consume Out of FSP and Cash Income......Page 100 II) Evidence from Food Stamp ‘Cashouts’......Page 102 C. Summary......Page 103 7. WIC AND SCHOOL NUTRITION PROGRAMS......Page 104 i) Effects on Infant Health and Medicaid Costs......Page 110 ii) WIC and Nutrition......Page 112 i) Effects on Nutrition......Page 114 iii) Participation and Family Food Expenditures......Page 115 C. Other Child Nutrition Programs......Page 116 D. Summary......Page 117 A. Short-term Effects of Head Start......Page 118 ii) Effects on Vocabulary......Page 124 iii) Effects on Schooling Attainment......Page 125 ii) Differences by Race and Ethnicity......Page 127 D. Summary......Page 129 i) Severely and Moderately Deficient Housing......Page 130 ii) Unaffordable Housing......Page 131 B. The Effects of Neighborhoods......Page 132 i) The Non-Experimental Evidence......Page 134 ii) The Gautreaux Program......Page 136 C. The Role of Housing Assistance Programs: The Construction of Public Housing Vs. Vouchers......Page 137 D. Summary......Page 139 i) How a NIT Works......Page 142 B. Effects of the NIT......Page 145 i) Effects on Family Stability......Page 146 ii) Effects on Health......Page 147 iv) Effects on Housing......Page 148 C. Summary......Page 149 CONCLUSIONS......Page 150 REFERENCES......Page 152 DATA APPENDIX......Page 166 Index......Page 186 1. Methods For Evaluating Welfare Programs -- 2. Measures Of Child Well-being -- 3. The Programs -- 4. Afdc -- 5. Medicaid -- 6. The Food Stamp Program -- 7. Wic And School Nutrition Programs -- 8. Head Start -- 9. Housing Assistance -- 10. The Earned Income Tax Credit. Janet M. Currie. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 140-153) And Index. An analysis of eight of the largest US welfare programmes affecting children. Programmes discussed include: Medicaid, Aid to Families with Dependent Children, the Food Stamp Program, WIC and School Lunch, Head Start and the Earned Income Tax Credit.