Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and Child Outcomes: Evidence from Birth Weight Eligibility Cut-Offs

Hawkins, Amelia; Hawkins, Amelia

Panel Paper: Supplemental Security Income, Medicaid, and Child Outcomes: Evidence from Birth Weight Eligibility Cut-Offs

Thursday, November 3, 2016 : 1:15 PM

Dupont (Washington Hilton)

*Names in bold indicate Presenter

Melanie Guldi, University of Central Florida, Amelia Hawkins, University of Michigan, Jeffrey Hemmeter, U.S. Social Security Administration and Lucie Schmidt, Williams College

Low birth weight infants born to mothers with low educational attainment have a double hurdle to overcome in the production of human capital. We examine whether income transfers, in the form of Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments, can help close the gap in outcomes due to this initial health and environmental disadvantage. We exploit a discontinuity in SSI eligibility at 1200 grams and, using a regression discontinuity approach, produce plausibly causal estimates of the effects of SSI eligibility. We find that it increases SSI enrollment, improves child outcomes, and shifts maternal labor supply from full to part time.