IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/jpamgt/v24y2005i4p661-685.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The changing association between prenatal participation in WIC and birth outcomes in New York City

Author

Listed:
  • Ted Joyce

    (City University of New York)

  • Diane Gibson

    (City University of New York)

  • Silvie Colman

    (City University of New York)

Abstract

We analyze the relationship between prenatal WIC participation and birth outcomes in New York City from 1988-2001. The analysis is unique for several reasons. First, we have over 800,000 births to women on Medicaid, the largest sample ever used to analyze prenatal participation in WIC. Second, we focus on measures of fetal growth distinct from preterm birth, since there is little clinical support for a link between nutritional supplementation and premature delivery. Third, we restrict the primary analysis to women on Medicaid who have no previous live births and who initiate prenatal care within the first four months of pregnancy. Our goal is to lessen heterogeneity between WIC and non-WIC participants by limiting the sample to highly motivated women who have no experience with WIC from a previous pregnancy. Fourth, we analyze a large sub-sample of twin deliveries. Multifetal pregnancies increase the risk of anemia and fetal growth retardation and thus may benefit more than singletons from nutritional supplementation. We find no relationship between prenatal WIC participation and measures of fetal growth among singletons. We find a modest pattern of association between WIC and fetal growth among U.S.-born Black twins. Our findings suggest that prenatal participation in WIC has had a minimal effect on adverse birth outcomes in New York City. © 2005 by the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management

Suggested Citation

  • Ted Joyce & Diane Gibson & Silvie Colman, 2005. "The changing association between prenatal participation in WIC and birth outcomes in New York City," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 661-685.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:24:y:2005:i:4:p:661-685
    DOI: 10.1002/pam.20131
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/pam.20131
    File Function: Link to full text; subscription required
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/pam.20131?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ted Joyce & Diane Gibson & Silvie Colman, 2004. "The Changing Association Between Prenatal Participation in WIC and Birth Outcomes in New York City," NBER Working Papers 10796, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Barbara Devaney & Linda Bilheimer & Jennifer Schore, 1992. "Medicaid costs and birth outcomes: The effects of prenatal WIC participation and the use of prenatal care," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 11(4), pages 573-592.
    3. Stockbauer, J.W., 1987. "WIC prenatal participation and its relation to pregnancy outcomes in Missouri: A second look," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 77(7), pages 813-818.
    4. Marianne P. Bitler & Janet Currie, 2005. "Does WIC work? The effects of WIC on pregnancy and birth outcomes," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 73-91.
    5. Schramm, W.F., 1985. "WIC prenatal participation and its relationship to newborn Medicaid costs in Missouri: A cost/benefit analysis," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 75(8), pages 851-857.
    6. James Heckman, 1997. "Instrumental Variables: A Study of Implicit Behavioral Assumptions Used in Making Program Evaluations," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 32(3), pages 441-462.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andrew D. Racine & Cristina Yunzal-Butler, 2007. "Reassessing the WIC Effect: Evidence from the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System," NBER Working Papers 13441, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Manan Roy, 2012. "Identifying the Effect of WIC on Infant Health When Participation is Endogenous and Misreported," Departmental Working Papers 1202, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.
    3. Cristina Yunzal-Butler & Theodore J. Joyce & Andrew D. Racine, 2009. "Maternal Smoking and the Timing of WIC Enrollment," NBER Working Papers 14728, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Michael Brien & Christopher Swann, 2001. "Does Participation in Multiple Welfare Programs Improve Birth Outcomes?," JCPR Working Papers 212, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    5. Ted Joyce & Andrew Racine & Cristina Yunzal-Butler, 2008. "Reassessing the WIC effect: Evidence from the Pregnancy Nutrition Surveillance System," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 27(2), pages 277-303.
    6. Ted Joyce & Diane Gibson & Silvie Colman, 2004. "The Changing Association Between Prenatal Participation in WIC and Birth Outcomes in New York City," NBER Working Papers 10796, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Swann Christopher A, 2010. "WIC Eligibility and Participation: The Roles of Changing Policies, Economic Conditions, and Demographics," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 10(1), pages 1-37, March.
    8. Marianne P. Bitler & Janet Currie, 2004. "Medicaid at Birth, WIC Take Up, and Children's Outcomes," Working Papers 172, RAND Corporation.
    9. M. Taha Kasim & Benjamin Ukert, 2021. "The impact of WIC participation on tobacco use and alcohol consumption," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 39(3), pages 608-625, July.
    10. Figlio, David & Hamersma, Sarah & Roth, Jeffrey, 2009. "Does prenatal WIC participation improve birth outcomes? New evidence from Florida," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(1-2), pages 235-245, February.
    11. Romana Khan & Ting Zhu & Sanjay Dhar, 2018. "The effect of the WIC program on consumption patterns in the cereal category," Quantitative Marketing and Economics (QME), Springer, vol. 16(1), pages 79-109, March.
    12. Keith Kranker & Mary Kay Fox & Pia Caronongan, "undated". "WIC-Medicaid II Feasibility Study: Final Report," Mathematica Policy Research Reports fb21857415324280ae3483385, Mathematica Policy Research.
    13. Barbara Devaney, "undated". "WIC Turns 35: Program Effectiveness and Future Directions (paper)," Mathematica Policy Research Reports 835bb2ec02864ca39029e2934, Mathematica Policy Research.
    14. Hoynes, Hilary & Page, Marianne & Stevens, Ann Huff, 2011. "Can targeted transfers improve birth outcomes?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7), pages 813-827.
    15. Almond, Douglas & Currie, Janet, 2011. "Human Capital Development before Age Five," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 15, pages 1315-1486, Elsevier.
    16. Jens Ludwig & Matthew Miller, 2005. "Interpreting the WIC debate," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 691-701.
    17. Laura Tiehen & Alison Jacknowitz, 2008. "Why Wait?: Examining Delayed Wic Participation Among Pregnant Women," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 26(4), pages 518-538, October.
    18. repec:mpr:mprres:5688 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Jiang, Miao & Foster, E. Michael & Gibson-Davis, Christina M., 2010. "The effect of WIC on breastfeeding: A new look at an established relationship," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 264-273, February.
    20. Douglas J. Besharov & Peter Germanis, 2000. "Evaluating WIC," Evaluation Review, , vol. 24(2), pages 123-190, April.
    21. Verónica Amarante & Marco Manacorda & Edward Miguel & Andrea Vigorito, 2016. "Do Cash Transfers Improve Birth Outcomes? Evidence from Matched Vital Statistics, Program, and Social Security Data," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 8(2), pages 1-43, May.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:24:y:2005:i:4:p:661-685. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/34787/home .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.