Effects of Prenatal Poverty on Infant Health: State Earned Income Tax Credits and Birth Weight
Open accessAbstract
This study estimates the effects of prenatal poverty on birth weight using changes in state Earned Income Tax Credits (EITC) as a natural experiment. We seek to answer two questions about poverty and child wellbeing. First, are there associations between prenatal poverty and lower birth weights even after factoring out unmeasured potential confounders? Because birth weight predicts a range of outcomes across the life course, lower birth weights that result from poverty may have lasting consequences for children’s life chances. Second, how have recent expansions of a work-based welfare program (i.e., the EITC) affected maternal and infant health? In recent decades, U.S. poverty relief has become increasingly tied to earnings and labor markets, but the consequences for children’s wellbeing remain controversial. We find that state EITCs increase birth weights and reduce maternal smoking. However, results related to AFDC/TANF and varying EITC effects across maternal ages raise cautionary messages.
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State EITCs increased birth weights and reduced maternal smoking.
“state EITCs increased birth weights and reduced maternal smoking [25].”
From Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action (2019) · cites this paper as [25]
Social policies that provide families with additional income can lead to improved health.
“Research reveals that social policies that provide families with additional income can lead to improved health.”
From Reducing Racial Inequities in Health: Using What We Already Know to Take Action (2019) · cites this paper as [25]
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References 64 · Cited by 255
Research works printed but not linked: 15
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- Meyer B Rosenbaum D Welfare, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Labor Supply of Single Mothers Quarterly Journal of Economics 2001 116 1063 1114
- Moffitt R Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States 2003 Chicago University of Chicago Press
- Romich Jennifer Weiser Thomas How Families View and Use the EITC Advance Payment versus Lump Sum Delivery National Tax Journal 2000 53 1245 1266
- Ruhm Christopher J Are Recessions Good For Your Health? Quarterly Journal of Economics 2000 115 617 650
- Scholz JK The Earned Income Tax Credit: Participation, Compliance, and Antipoverty Effectiveness The National Tax Journal 1994 47 1 63 87
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- Authors
- Strully, K. W., Rehkopf, D. H., & Xuan, Z.
- Affiliations
- University at Albany, State University of New York (US)
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Strully, Kate W.
- Venue
- American Sociological Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2010-08
- Volume
- 75
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 534-562
- ISSN
- 0003-1224 (ISSN-L)
- 1939-8271
- PMC
- PMC3104729
- OpenAlex
- W2032136411
- Cited by
- 255
- References
- 64
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 19 · 2024: 18 · 2023: 30 · 2022: 24 · 2021: 25 · 2020: 23 · 2019: 22 · 2018: 12 · 2017: 14 · 2016: 16 · 2015: 19 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 11 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 14.72
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- American Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (R24HD044943)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Gender Studies › Gender, Labor, and Family Dynamics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Maternal and Neonatal Healthcare
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Food Security and Health in Diverse Populations
- Keywords
- birth weight, Earned Income Tax Credit, infant health, maternal smoking, child well-being, maternal age, natural experiment
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