Approaches to Understanding the Impacts of Poverty Alleviation on Child and Adult Health

ABSTRACT: Low income has long been associated with worse child and adult health for certain outcomes, but the extent and direction of causal association has been controversial, with many thorough analyses and reviews suggesting little to no true causal association. While progress on this topic has been made using some quasi-experimental studies and instrumental variables to estimate effects, many approaches have been limited in their generalizability to policy. The impacts of the Earned Income Tax Credit, which have been well characterized in terms of economic effects, offer a window into understanding how an actual anti-poverty and work policy impacts child and adult health. I will present results from two different approaches that seek to understand both long and short-term consequences of the income benefits and work incentives that have resulted from the Earned Income Tax Credit. The first approach utilizes lagged and fixed characteristics with longitudinal data to estimate impacts while avoiding bias due to selection into treatment. With the second approach I attempt to identify immediate and short-term impacts based on the fact that most recipients receive their credit soon after the first of the calendar year. Finally, I will also present more descriptive, exploratory evidence for heterogeneity of effects of the program based on individual demographic characteristics and contextual characteristics of region of residence.