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Cited by 46Food Security and Health in Diverse PopulationsPoverty, Education, and Child WelfareGender, Labor, and Family Dynamics

Health Impacts of Food Assistance: Evidence from the United States

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Bitler, Marianne P., Seifoddini, Arian·2019·Annual Review of Resource Economics
DOI 10.1146/annurev-resource-100518-093823
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Abstract

This review focuses on the health and nutrition impacts of food assistance programs. We focus particular attention on the United States, both because of the plethora of types of programs and associated variation and because spending on these programs is a large share of the nonmedical safety net there. We begin by reviewing the theoretical predictions concerning health and nutrition effects of these programs, also paying attention to potential mediators such as education and income. We then discuss program eligibility and size, both as caseload and in terms of spending. We next touch on identifying causal variation and opportunities for further research. The review concludes by discussing the existing literature in five broad areas: take-up and use of the programs; effects on nutrition and food consumption; other immediate effects on short-run health; impacts on other contemporaneous outcomes such as income and labor supply; and longer-run health and nutrition effects.

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  1. Currie J. 2007. US food and nutrition programs. In Economics of Means Tested Transfer Programs in the US, ed. R Moffitt, pp. 199-290. Chicago: Univ. Chicago Press
  2. Currie J, Moretti E. 2008. Did the introduction of food stamps affect birth outcomes in California? In Making Americans Healthier, ed. RF Schoeni, JS House, GA Kaplan, H Pollack, pp. 122-42. New York: Russell Sage Found.
  3. Gregory CA, Rabbitt M, Ribar D. 2015. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and food con- sumption. In SNAP Matters: How Food Stamps Affect Health and Well-Being, ed. J Bartfield, C Gundersen, T Smeeding, J Ziliak, pp. 74-106. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press
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  5. Hoynes HW, McGranahan L, Schanzenbach DW. 2015. SNAP and food consumption. In SNAP Matters: How Food Stamps Affect Health and Well-Being, ed. J Bartfield, C Gundersen, T Smeeding, J Ziliak, pp. 107-33. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press
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  7. Nichols AL, Zeckhauser RJ. 1982. Targeting transfers through restrictions on recipients. Am. Econ. Rev. Pap. Proc. 72:372-77
  8. Trippe C, Tadler C, Johnson P, Giannarelli L, Betson D. 2018. National-and state-level estimates of WIC el- igibles and program reach in 2015. Final Rep., Vol. 1, Insight Policy Res., Arlington, VA. https://fns- prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/ops/WICEligibles2015-Volume1.pdf

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Authors
Bitler, M. P., & Seifoddini, A.
Affiliations
  • National Bureau of Economic Research (US)
  • University of California, Davis (US)
ORCID
Bitler, Marianne P.
Venue
Annual Review of Resource Economics
Publisher
Annual Reviews
Published
2019-10-05
Volume
11
Issue
1
Pages
261-287
ISSN
  • 1941-1340 (ISSN-L)
  • 1941-1359
DOI
10.1146/annurev-resource-100518-093823
OpenAlex
W2956404427
Cited by
45
References
78
Citations by year
2026: 3 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 10 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 11 · 2020: 3 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.97
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
Annual Review of Resource Economics (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
  • Social Sciences › Safety Research › Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare
  • Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
Keywords
food assistance programs, nutrition, health effects, program eligibility, dietary intake, labor supply, income effects, social safety nets, program spending, causal identification

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