Primary studies included in this systematic review

loading
6 articles (6 References) loading Revert Studify

Primary study

Unclassified

The effects of Earned Income Tax Credit payment expansion on maternal smoking.

Authors Averett S , Wang Y
Journal Health economics
Year 2013
Links Pubmed DOI

This article is included in 1 Systematic review Systematic reviews (1 reference)

Loading references information
The Earned Income Tax Credit is the largest antipoverty program in the USA. In 1993, the Earned Income Tax Credit benefit levels were changed significantly based on the number of children in the family such that families with two or more children experienced an exogenous expansion in their incomes. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 cohort, we use a triple-difference plus fixed effects framework to examine the effect of this change on the probability of smoking among low-educated mothers. We find that the probability of smoking for White low-educated mothers of two or more children significantly decreased relative to those with only one child, and this result is robust to various specification tests. This result provides new evidence on the protective effect of income on health through changes in a health-related behavior and therefore has important policy implications.

Primary study

Unclassified

Education, Maternal Smoking, and the Earned Income Tax Credit

blocked
Journal The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy
Year 2012

This article is included in 1 Systematic review Systematic reviews (1 reference)

Loading references information
We estimate and explore mechanisms of the impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) expansions on the smoking behavior of women. Differential increases in federal EITC benefits by family size in the mid-1990s allow for a comparison of smoking status changes between mothers with one and more than one child. We exploit these changes in a difference-in-differences framework using data from the 1993-2001 waves of the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and show that the increase in EITC benefits yielded a significant decline in the likelihood of being a current smoker among unmarried mothers with less than a college degree. Although women with a high school degree or less and women with some college education received similar benefit increases on average and exhibited similar labor supply responses, the reduction in the likelihood of smoking was concentrated among those with some college.

Primary study

Unclassified

The Effects of Female Labor Force Participation on Obesity

blocked
Report Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA)
Year 2011

This article is included in 1 Systematic review Systematic reviews (1 reference)

Loading references information
This paper assesses whether a causal relationship exists between recent increases in female labor force participation and the increased prevalence of obesity amongst women. The expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in the 1980s and 1990s have been established by prior literature as having generated variation in female labor supply, particularly amongst single mothers. Here, we use this plausibly exogenous variation in female labor supply to identify the effect of labor force participation on obesity status. We use data from the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) and replicate labor supply effects of the EITC expansions found in previous literature. This validates employing a difference-in-differences estimation strategy in the NHIS data, as has been done in several other data sets. Depending on the specification, we find that increased labor force participation can account for at most 19% of the observed change in obesity prevalence over our sample period. Our preferred specification, however, suggests that there is no causal link between increased female labor force participation and increased obesity.

Primary study

Unclassified

Giving Mom a Break: The Impact of Higher EITC Payments on Maternal Health

blocked
Report National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc
Year 2010

This article is included in 1 Systematic review Systematic reviews (1 reference)

Loading references information
The 1993 expansions of the Earned Income Tax Credit created the first meaningful separation in the benefit level for families based on the number of children, with families containing two or more children now receiving substantially more in benefits. If income is protective of health, we should see improvements over time in the health for mothers eligible for the EITC with two or more children compared to those with only one child. Using data from the Behavioral Risk Factors Surveillance Survey, we find in difference-in-difference models that for low-educated mothers of two or more children, the number of days with poor mental health and the fraction reporting excellent or very good health improved relative to the mothers with only one child. Using data from the National Health Examination and Nutrition Survey, we find evidence that the probability of having risky levels of biomarkers fell for these same low-educated women impacted more by the 1993 expansions, especially biomarkers that indicate inflammation.

Primary study

Unclassified

Decline in the United States black preterm/low birth weight rate in the 1990s: can the economic boom explain it?

Authors Schempf AH , Decker SL
Journal Annals of epidemiology
Year 2010
Links Pubmed DOI

This article is included in 1 Systematic review Systematic reviews (1 reference)

Loading references information
PURPOSE: Macroeconomic improvements have been posited as an explanation of the decline in the Black preterm birth rate during the 1990s. This study assessed whether decreasing unemployment explained the decline in preterm, low birth weight births (PT-LBW) for Black women. METHODS: United States singleton births to non-Hispanic Black women ages 18 and over, conceived between 1990 and 2001, were pooled to examine PT-LBW trends by level of social advantage (approximated by education and marital status). The impact of the state-level unemployment rate in the first and second trimester of pregnancy was evaluated in multiple logistic regression models. RESULTS: During the 1990s, PT-LBW declined 11% among disadvantaged (unmarried, less than high school educated) Black women. Although the unemployment rate and PT-LBW were positively related, decreases in unemployment did not explain the decline in PT-LBW. Instead, improvements in prenatal care utilization and smoking behavior largely accounted for the temporal trend. CONCLUSIONS: Macroeconomic improvements, measured by unemployment, only marginally contributed to the Black PT-LBW trend in the 1990s. To effect further reductions, future studies should investigate other possible determinants of the proximate behavioral changes that did explain the trend (e.g., Earned Income Tax Credit expansions, increased, cigarette taxes/smoking legislation).

Primary study

Unclassified

Effects of Prenatal Poverty on Infant Health: State Earned Income Tax Credits and Birth Weight.

Authors Strully KW , Rehkopf DH , Xuan Z
Journal American sociological review
Year 2010
Links Pubmed DOI PubMed Central

This article is included in 2 Systematic reviews Systematic reviews (2 references)

Loading references information