New Research on Childhood Exposure to the Safety Net

Session Submission Type: Panel

Abstract

This panel examines the causal long-term effects of exposure to the safety net in childhood. The programs examined include food assistance from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and the Supplemental Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); disability assistance from the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, and cash assistance from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. The outcomes examined include the effect of WIC on academic performance; the effect of SNAP on health outcomes in adulthood; and the effect of the fraction of time on TANF in childhood on the distribution of time spent on the broader safety net in adulthood and adult earnings. The papers share a common thread of exploiting exogenous variation to identify causal effects of programs on later life education attainment, health, and economic security.

Policy Area

• Poverty and Income Policy

Secondary Policy Area

• Family and Child Policy

Chair

• Bradley Hardy, Georgetown University

Discussants

• Marianne E. Page, University of California, Davis

• Katherine Michelmore, University of Michigan Ann Arbor

Organizer

• James P. Ziliak, University of Kentucky

Individual Presentations

• Do the Health Effects of WIC transmit to Children’s Academic Achievement? - Presenting Author: Briana Ballis, University of California, Merced; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Marianne E. Page, University of California, Davis

• Childhood Welfare Exposure and Economic Outcomes for Adult Daughters and Sons - Presenting Author: James P. Ziliak, University of Kentucky; Non-Presenting Co-Author: Robert Paul Hartley, Columbia University

• Early Life Exposure to Food Stamps and the Next Generation’s Health - Presenting Author: Nahid Tavassoli, Austin Peay State University

• Increasing Access to the Safety Net During Pregnancy: Evidence from an RCT - Presenting Author: Marianne Bitler, University of California, Davis