The Impact of Universal Child Benefits on Family Health and Behaviours

LEBIHAN, Laetitia and MAO TAKONGMO, Charles Olivier (2018): The Impact of Universal Child Benefits on Family Health and Behaviours.

Abstract

In 2006, the Universal Child Care Benefit was introduced in Canada for all children aged less than 6 years. This program aims to help cover the cost of children and to provide financial assistance to families with young children in their choice of childcare. We exploit this policy change to estimate the effects of unconditional family cash transfers on the health and behaviours of two-parent families and their children. Using a difference-in-differences model, we find no evidence that the program improved child and parental outcomes in aggregate. A modest but fragile beneficial effect is found for low-education families and for girls.

• Item Type: MPRA Paper
• Language: English
• Keywords: Universal child benefits, health, well-being, behaviour.
• Subjects: I - Health, Education, and Welfare > I1 - Health > I10 - General; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J13 - Fertility ; Family Planning ; Child Care ; Children ; Youth; J - Labor and Demographic Economics > J1 - Demographic Economics > J18 - Public Policy

References

Baker, Michael. 2011. Innis Lecture: Universal early childhood interventions: what is the evidence base? Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d’economique 44 (4): 1069 1105.

Baker, Michael, Jonathan Gruber, and Kevin Milligan. 2008. Universal Child Care, Maternal Labor Supply, and Family Well Being. Journal of Political Economy 116 (4): 709 745.

Baker, Michael, Jonathan Gruber, and Kevin Milligan. 2017. Non-Cognitive De cits and Young Adult Outcomes: The Long-Run Impacts of a Universal Child Care Program. http://faculty.arts.ubc.ca/kmilligan/ research.htm.

Baker, Michael, and Kevin Milligan. 2010. Evidence from maternity leave expansions of the impact of maternal care on early child development. Journal of human Resources 45 (1): 1 32.

Baker, Michael, and Kevin Milligan. 2015. Maternity leave and children’s cognitive and behavioral development. Journal of Population Economics 28 (2): 373 391.

Baughman, Reagan A, and Noelia Duchovny. 2016. State Earned Income Tax Credits and the production of child health: Insurance coverage, utilization, and health status. National Tax Journal 69 (1): 103.

Becker, Gary. 1981. A treatise on the family. Harvard University Press. Cambridge MA.

Bradshaw, Jonathan. 2012. The case for family bene ts. Children and Youth Services Review 34 (3): 590 596.

Cooper, Kerris, and Kitty Stewart. 2018. Does money a ect children’s outcomes? An update. Technical Report, London: London School of Economics.

Currie, Janet. 2001. Early childhood education programs. Journal of Economic perspectives 15 (2): 213 238.

Dahl, Gordon B, and Lance Lochner. 2012. The impact of family income on child achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit. The American Economic Review 102 (5): 1927 1956.

Daley, Angela. 2017. Income and the mental health of Canadian mothers: Evidence from the Universal Child Care Bene t. SSM-population health 3:674 683.

Deutscher, Nathan, and Robert Breunig. 2018. Baby bonuses: natural experiments in cash transfers, birth timing and child outcomes. Economic Record 94 (304): 1 24.

Duncan, Greg J, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. 1997. Consequences of growing up poor. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Evans, William N., and Craig L. Garthwaite. 2014. Giving Mom a Break: The Impact of Higher EITC Payments on Maternal Health. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 6 (2): 258 90.

Gaitz, Jason, and Stefanie Schurer. 2017. Bonus Skills: Examining the E ect of an Unconditional Cash Transfer on Child Human Capital Formation. IZA Discussion Papers.

Gonzalez, Libertad. 2018. The E ect of an Income Shock at Birth on Child Health: Evidence from a Child Benefit in Spain. Technical Report.

Haeck, Catherine, Laetitia Lebihan, and Philip Merrigan. 2018. Universal Child Care and Long-Term E ects on Child Well-Being: Evidence from Canada. Journal of Human Capital 12 (1): 38 98.

Haeck, Catherine, Pierre Lefebvre, and Philip Merrigan. 2015. Canadian evidence on ten years of universal preschool policies: the good and the bad. Labour Economics 36:137 157.

Hener, Timo. 2016. Unconditional child bene ts, mothers labor supply, and family wellbeing: Evidence from a policy reform. CESifo Economic Studies 62 (4): 624 649.

Jenkins, Jennifer M, Jon Rasbash, and Thomas G O’connor. 2003. The role of the shared family context in di erential parenting. Developmental psychology 39 (1): 99.

Jones, Lauren E, Kevin S Milligan, and Mark Stabile. 2015. Child cash bene ts and family expenditures: Evidence from the National Child Bene t. Technical Report 21101, National Bureau of Economic Research.

Koebel, Kourtney, and Tammy Schirle. 2016. The Di erential Impact of Universal Child Benefits on the Labour Supply of Married and Single Mothers. Canadian Public Policy 42 (1): 49 64.

Kottelenberg, Michael J., and Steven F. Lehrer. 2013. New evidence on the impacts of access to and attending universal child-care in Canada. Canadian Public Policy 39 (2):263 286.

Lebihan, Laetitia, C-O Mao Takongmo, and Fanny McKellips. 2018. Health Disparities for Immigrants: Theory and Evidence from Canada. Review of Economics.

McEwen, Annie, and Jennifer M Stewart. 2014. The relationship between income and children’s outcomes: A synthesis of Canadian evidence. Canadian Public Policy 40 (1): 99 109.

Milan, A. 2013. Fertility: Overview, 2009 to 2011. Report on the Demographic Situation in Canada. Technical Report.

Milligan, Kevin, and Mark Stabile. 2007. The integration of child tax credits and welfare: Evidence from the Canadian National Child Bene t program. Journal of Public Economics 91 (1): 305 326.

Milligan, Kevin, and Mark Stabile. 2009. Child bene ts, maternal employment, and children’s health: Evidence from Canadian child benefit expansions. American Economic Review 99 (2): 128 32.

Milligan, Kevin, and Mark Stabile. 2011. Do Child Tax Benefits Affect the Well-Being of Children? Evidence from Canadian Child Bene t Expansions. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy 3 (3): 175 205.

Ministry, of Education of Government of Ontario. 2013. A Meta-Perspective on the Evaluation of Full-Day Kindergarten during the First Two Years of Implementation. http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/kindergarten/FDKReport2013.pdf.

Schirle, Tammy. 2015. The effect of universal child bene ts on labour supply. Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d’economique 48 (2): 437 463.

Shaffer, Juliet Popper. 1995. Multiple hypothesis testing. Annual review of psychology 46 (1): 561 584.

Simes, R John. 1986. An improved Bonferroni procedure for multiple tests of significance. Biometrika 73 (3): 751 754.

Statistics, Canada. 2008. National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth Survey Overview for the 2008/2009 Data Collection Cycle 8. http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/ imdb/p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=4450. Statistics, Canada. 2010. Survey of Young Canadians (SYC). http://www23.statcan.gc.ca/imdb/ p2SV.pl?Function=getSurvey&SDDS=5179.

Treasury, Board of Canada. 2009. Human Resources and Skills Development Canada: 20082009 estimates, departmental performance report. https://www.tbs-sct.gc.ca/pol/ doc-eng.aspx?id=12309.

Treasury, Board of Canada. 2013. Parts I and II The Government Expenditure Plan and Main Estimates: 2013-2014 estimates. https://www.canada.ca/en/ treasury-board-secretariat/services/planned-government-spending/ government-expenditure-plan-main-estimates.html.

Yeung, W Jean, Miriam R Linver, and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn. 2002. How money matters for young children’s development: Parental investment and family processes. Child development 73 (6): 1861 1879.