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WIC Participation Patterns: An Investigation of Delayed Entry and Early Exit

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  • Jacknowitz, Alison
  • Tiehen, Laura

Abstract

USDA’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides nutritious foods, nutrition counseling, and referrals to health and other social services to low-income women and their infants/children up to age 5. Despite the health benefits of WIC participation, many eligible women do not participate during pregnancy, and many households exit WIC when a participating child turns 1 year old. The authors of this report use the first two waves of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Birth Cohort (ECLS-B) to understand these transitions into and out of WIC. Findings show that households that are more economically advantaged are more likely to delay entry into the program or exit after a child turns 1 year old. Some of the mothers exiting the program reported that WIC requires too much effort and that its benefits are not worth the time (26.2 percent of those exiting) or that they have scheduling and transportation problems (almost 10 percent of those exiting), suggesting that the costs of participation may be a barrier to continued WIC participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacknowitz, Alison & Tiehen, Laura, 2010. "WIC Participation Patterns: An Investigation of Delayed Entry and Early Exit," Economic Research Report 102759, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersrr:102759
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.102759
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Marianne Bitler & Craig Gundersen & Grace S. Marquis, 2005. "Are WIC Nonrecipients at Less Nutritional Risk Than Recipients? An Application of the Food Security Measure," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 27(3), pages 433-438.
    2. Marianne P. Bitler & Janet Currie, 2005. "Does WIC work? The effects of WIC on pregnancy and birth outcomes," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 73-91.
    3. Davis, David E. & Leibtag, Ephraim S., 2005. "Interstate Variation In Wic Food Package Costs: The Role Of Food Prices, Caseload Composition, And Cost-Containment Practices," Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Reports 33811, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Marianne P. Bitler & Janet Currie, 2005. "The changing association between prenatal participation in WIC and birth outcomes in New York City: What does it mean?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 687-690.
    5. Robert A. Moffitt, 2003. "Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number moff03-1.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hodges, Leslie & Toossi, Saied & Todd, Jessica E. & Ryan-Claytor, Cayley, 2024. "The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC): Background, Trends, and Economic Issues, 2024 Edition," Economic Information Bulletin 341637, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    2. Thesia I. Garner & Charles Hokayem, 2012. "Supplemental Poverty Measure Thresholds: Imputing School Lunch and WIC Benefits to the Consumer Expenditure Survey Using the Current Population Survey," Working Papers 457, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
    3. Di Fang & Michael R. Thomsen & Rodolfo M. Nayga & Aaron M. Novotny, 2019. "WIC Participation and Relative Quality of Household Food Purchases: Evidence from FoodAPS," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 86(1), pages 83-105, July.
    4. Seung Jin Cho, 2022. "The effect of aging out of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program on food insecurity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(4), pages 664-685, April.
    5. Brent Kreider & John V. Pepper & Manan Roy, 2020. "Does The Women, Infants, And Children Program Improve Infant Health Outcomes?," Economic Inquiry, Western Economic Association International, vol. 58(4), pages 1731-1756, October.
    6. Kreider, Brent & Pepper, John V. & Roy, Manan, 2018. "Does the Women, Infants, and Children Program (WIC) Improve Infant Health Outcomes?," ISU General Staff Papers 201805010700001055, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
    7. Manan Roy, 2012. "Identifying the Effect of WIC on Infant Health When Participation is Endogenous and Misreported," Departmental Working Papers 1202, Southern Methodist University, Department of Economics.

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    Keywords

    Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety; Food Security and Poverty;

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