does participation in multiple welfare programs improve birth.pdf

Does Participation in Multiple Welfare Programs * Improve Birth Outcomes? Michael J. Brien Christopher A. Swann+ Deloitte Financial Advisory Services LLP Department of Economics th 555 12 Street NW, Suite 500 UNC Greensboro Washington, DC 20004-1207 Greensboro, NC 27402 chris_swann@uncg.edu First Draft: October 12, 2000 This Draft: December 30, 2000 [Modified on 7/24/09 to update contact information.] * Support for this research was provided by the Joint Center for Poverty Research USDA Small Grants Program. We would like to thank participants at the USDA Small Grants Conference and the Southern Economic Association Meetings as well as seminar participants at the University of Colorado for comments. All remaining errors are our responsibility. + Corresponding author. Executive Summary The U.S. has relatively high rates of low birth weight, preterm births, and infant mortality when compared to other western industrial countries. A number of Federal programs—WIC, Food Stamps, Medicaid, and AFDC—have provided benefits to help improve the birth outcomes of participants. In spite of the fact that many women participate in more than one of these programs, previous research only considers participation in one program at a time. Such analysis may lead to misleading conclusions if women participate in multiple programs and if