Policy Brief

Following the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government relaxed the physical presence requirements for applicants of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) to reduce the associated health risks for pregnant women, new mothers, and young children. Experts consider in-person application requirements an administrative burden that can constrain access to social services, but the causality of specific burdens on WIC has not previously been shown. This brief summarizes findings from a study that compared WIC caseload data collected across 738 counties in 10 U.S. states between January 2019 and May 2021 to determine how these waives affected WIC participation. The authors found that adoption of the physical-presence waiver increased WIC participation by 11%.