The impact of aging out of WIC on food security in households with children

Irma Arteaga, Colleen Heflin, Sara Gable

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

26 Scopus citations

Abstract

Correlational research suggests that disadvantaged families with young children who are food insecure often participate in the Women Infants and Children program (WIC). While there has been a considerable amount of research on the association between WIC participation and food insecurity, these studies have reported mixed findings and do not explore the effects of WIC at a critical age, when children turn five years old. This paper estimates the effects of aging out of WIC on rates of household food insecurity using the exogenous rule that children are eligible for the WIC program until the day before they turn 61 months old. Using a regression discontinuity design and the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study Birth-cohort dataset, we find that there is an increase in rates of food insecurity for children who become age-ineligible for WIC (i.e., reach 61 months of age) and who have not yet started kindergarten. Furthermore, this effect is robust under different models, bandwidths and analytic samples.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)82-96
Number of pages15
JournalChildren and Youth Services Review
Volume69
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 1 2016
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Food insecurity
  • Program evaluation
  • Regression discontinuity design
  • WIC

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Education
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Sociology and Political Science

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