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Welfare Reform and Children's Health

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This study investigates the effect of the Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) program on children’s health outcomes using data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) over the period 1994 to 2005. The TANF policies have been credited with increased employment for single mothers and a dramatic drop in welfare caseload. Our results show that these policies also had a significant effect on various measures of children’s medical utilization among low-income families. These health measures include a rating of the child’s health status reported by the parents; the number of times that parents consulted a doctor; and the number of nights that the child stayed in a hospital. We compare the overall changes of health status and medical utilization for children with working and nonworking mothers. We find that the child’s health status as reported by the parents is affected by the maternal employment status.

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  • Badi H. Baltagi & Yin-Fang Yen, 2014. "Welfare Reform and Children's Health," Center for Policy Research Working Papers 172, Center for Policy Research, Maxwell School, Syracuse University.
  • Handle: RePEc:max:cprwps:172
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    File URL: https://surface.syr.edu/cpr/204/
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "Social Insurance and Health," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 57-84, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    2. Vaughn, Cody N., 2023. "Welfare reform and childhood health status and utilization," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Maternal Employment; Children's Health; Welfare; Fixed Effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C11 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Econometric and Statistical Methods and Methodology: General - - - Bayesian Analysis: General

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