Center for Policy Research

Working Paper

Welfare Reform and Children’s Health

Badi H. Baltagi & Yin-Fang Yen

C.P.R. Working Paper No. 172

October 2014

Badi H. Baltagi

Economics Department

Center for Policy Research

Child & Elder Care

Children, Adolescents

Health Policy

Badi H. Baltagi

Abstract

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. The authors' 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. The authors compare the overall changes of health status and medical utilization for children with working and nonworking mothers. They find that the child’s health status as reported by the parents is affected by the maternal employment status.

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