Multigenerational Impacts of Childhood Access to the Safety Net: Early Life Exposure to Medicaid and the Next Generation’s Health

Chloe N. East; Sarah Miller; Marianne Page; Laura Wherry

doi:10.1257/aer.20210937

American Economic Review Vol. 113 No. 1 2023

Multigenerational Impacts of Childhood Access to the Safety Net: Early Life Exposure to Medicaid and the Next Generation’s Health

Chloe N. East¹; Sarah Miller²; Marianne Page³; Laura Wherry⁴

¹ Department of Economics, University of Colorado Denver (email: ) · ² Ross School of Business, University of Michigan (email: ) · ³ Department of Economics, University of California, Davis (email: ) · ⁴ NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (email: )

open access

Abstract

We examine multi-generational impacts of positive in utero health interventions using a new research design that exploits sharp increases in prenatal Medicaid eligibility that occurred in some states. Our analyses are based on U.S. Vital Statistics Natality files, which enables linkages between individuals' early life Medicaid exposure and the next generation's health at birth. We find evidence that the health benefits associated with treated generations' early life program exposure extend to later offspring. Our results suggest that the returns on early life health investments may be substantively underestimated.

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20210937
Volume: 113
Issue: 1
Pages: 98-135
Language: en
Sources: bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Multigenerational Impacts of Childhood Access to the Safety Net: Early Life Exposure to Medicaid and the Next Generation’s Health

Abstract

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