Affiliation:
1. University of California-Los Angeles and NBER , USA
2. University of California at Berkeley and NBER , USA
3. Stanford University and NBER , USA
Abstract
Abstract
We use novel, large-scale data on 17.5 million Americans to study how a policy-driven increase in economic resources affects children's long-term outcomes. Using the 2000 Census and 2001–13 American Community Survey linked to the Social Security Administration's NUMIDENT, we leverage the county-level rollout of the Food Stamps program between 1961 and 1975. We find that children with access to greater economic resources before age five have better outcomes as adults. The treatment-on-the-treated effects show a 6% of a standard deviation improvement in human capital, 3% of a standard deviation increase in economic self-sufficiency, 8% of a standard deviation increase in the quality of neighbourhood of residence, a 1.2-year increase in life expectancy, and a 0.5 percentage-point decrease in likelihood of being incarcerated. These estimates suggest that Food Stamps’ transfer of resources to families is a highly cost-effective investment in young children, yielding a marginal value of public funds of approximately sixty-two.
Publisher
Oxford University Press (OUP)
Subject
Economics and Econometrics
Reference110 articles.
1. The Long Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families;Aizer;American Economic Review,2016
2. Maternal Stress and Child Outcomes: Evidence from Siblings;Aizer;Journal of Human Resources,2016
3. Parents’ Incomes and Children’s Outcomes: A Quasi-Experiment Using Transfer Payments from Casino Profits;Akee;American Economics Journal: Applied Economics,2010
Cited by
4 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献