Liberal Welfare State Policies and Health: The Effect of The Earned Income Tax Credit on Child Well-Being

Kate W. Strully, University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY)
David Rehkopf, University of California, San Francisco and University of California, Berkeley
Ziming Xuan, Harvard School of Public Health

In this analysis, we investigate the health effects of liberal welfare state policies by examining how enactments and expansion of state and national earned income tax credit (EITC) programs impact the health of the children of the working poor. Using two data sources — Children of the NLSY79 and U.S. Natality Data — to conduct a difference-in-difference analysis, we examine the effect of the EITC on birth weight, preterm birth, and child height.