We use survey data, augmented with data collected from respondents’ medical records, to explore selection into prenatal inputs among a group of urban, mostly unmarried mothers. We explore the extent to which several theoretically important but typically unobserved variables (representing...

We estimate the effects of having a child in poor health on the mother's receipt of Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Security Income (SSI), and public support in the form of food (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children [WIC] or food...

A growing body of research indicates that low socioeconomic status in early childhood sets the stage for increasing disadvantages in both health and educational capital over the child's life course and can cause low socioeconomic status to persist for generations. The study estimated the effects...

Little is known about the effects of financial insecurity on social interactions despite consistently observed income effects on social capital and a growing recognition of the potential importance of income volatility in affecting hardships, distress, and other aspects of well-being. We use...

We exploit an exogenous health shock the birth of a child with a severe health condition to investigate the causal effect of a life shock on homelessness. Using survey data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study that have been augmented with information from hospital medical...

This paper adds to the literature on social capital and health by testing whether an exogenous shock in the health of a family member (a new baby) affects the family's investment in social capital. It also contributes to a small but growing literature on the effects of children's health on...

This study exploits an exogenous health shock--the birth of a child with a severe health condition that is considered by the medical community to be random--to investigate the effect of that shock on the family's housing situation. We use population-based data from an urban birth cohort study in...

We use data from the Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing study to estimate the effects of poor infant health, pre-pregnancy health conditions of the mother, and the father’s health status on health insurance status of urban, mostly unmarried, mothers and their one-year-old children. Virtually...

We use survey data, augmented with data collected from respondents’ medical records, to explore selection into prenatal inputs among a group of urban, mostly unmarried mothers. We explore the extent to which several theoretically important but typically unobserved variables (representing...

Extremely little is known about the effects of health on food insecurity despite strong associations between the two and a theoretical basis for this avenue of inquiry. This study uses data from two national birth cohort studies in the U.S., the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Birth Cohort...