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Integrating Administrative and Survey Data to Estimate WIC Eligibility and Access

Author

Listed:
  • Linden McBride
  • Thomas B. Foster
  • Renuka Bhaskar
  • Mark Prell
  • Maria Perez-Patron
  • Erik Vickstrom
  • Brian Knop
  • Michaela Dillon

Abstract

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides benefits to low-income, nutritionally at-risk women, infants, and children. To administer WIC, officials and program managers at the federal and state level want to understand who is eligible for the program, who among the eligible population chooses to participate, and who is not accessing the program despite their eligibility. Novel individual-level data linkages between restricted-use WIC Administrative Records and the American Community Survey provide WIC access rates estimated at the state and county levels, as well as estimates disaggregated by the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of individuals and their households. These estimates are developed by the Census-FNS-ERS Joint Project, a research partnership among the U.S. Census Bureau, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service and Economic Research Service, and state WIC agencies that provide the requisite WIC administrative data to the Census Bureau. This paper details and evaluates our current data linkage and estimation methods, reports results, and identifies areas for improvement and further research.

Suggested Citation

  • Linden McBride & Thomas B. Foster & Renuka Bhaskar & Mark Prell & Maria Perez-Patron & Erik Vickstrom & Brian Knop & Michaela Dillon, 2026. "Integrating Administrative and Survey Data to Estimate WIC Eligibility and Access," Working Papers 26-43, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    • Handle: RePEc:cen:wpaper:26-43
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    File URL: https://www2.census.gov/library/working-papers/2026/adrm/ces/CES-WP-26-43.pdf
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brittany Bond & J. David Brown & Adela Luque & Amy O’Hara, 2014. "The Nature of the Bias When Studying Only Linkable Person Records: Evidence from the American Community Survey," CARRA Working Papers 2014-08, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    2. Deborah Wagner & Mary Lane, 2014. "The Person Identification Validation System (PVS): Applying the Center for Administrative Records Research and Applications’ (CARRA) Record Linkage Software," CARRA Working Papers 2014-01, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    3. Hoynes, Hilary & Page, Marianne & Stevens, Ann Huff, 2011. "Can targeted transfers improve birth outcomes?: Evidence from the introduction of the WIC program," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(7-8), pages 813-827, August.
    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.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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