Measuring Overcrowding in Households with Children: Official vs. Actual Thresholds in the Ecuadorian Case

BackgroundCash transfer (CT) programmes are implemented widely to alleviate poverty and provide safety nets to vulnerable households with children. However, evidence on the effects of CTs on child health and nutrition outcomes has been mixed. We systematically reviewed evidence of the impact of CTs on child nutritional status and selected proximate determinants.MethodsWe searched articles published between January 1997 and September 2018 using Agris, Econlit, Eldis, IBSS, IDEAS, IFPRI, Google Scholar, PubMed and World Bank databases. We included studies using quantitative impact evaluation methods of CTs with sample sizes over 300, targeted to households with children under 5 years old conducted in countries with gross domestic product per capita below US$10 000 at baseline. We conducted meta-analysis using random-effects models to assess the impact of CT programmes on selected child nutrition outcomes and meta-regression analysis to examine the association of programme characteristics with effect sizes.ResultsOut of 2862 articles identified, 74 articles were eligible for inclusion. We find that CTs have significant effects of 0.03±0.03 on height-for-age z-scores (p<0.03) and a decrease of 2.1% in stunting (95% CI −3.5% to −0.7%); consumption of animal-source foods (4.5%, 95% CI 2.9% to 6.0%); dietary diversity (0.73, 95% CI 0.28 to 1.19) and diarrhoea incidence (−2.7%, 95% CI −5.4% to −0.0%; p<0.05). The effects of CTs on weight-for-age z-scores and wasting were not significant (0.02, 95% CI −0.03 to 0.08; p<0.42) and (1.2%, 95% CI: −0.1% to 2.5%; p<0.07), respectively. We found that specific programme characteristics differentially modified the effect on the nutrition outcomes studied.ConclusionWe found that CT programmes targeted to households with young children improved linear growth and contributed to reduced stunting. We found that the likely pathways were through increased dietary diversity, including through the increased consumption of animal-source foods and reduced incidence of diarrhoea. With heightened interest in nutrition-responsive social protection programmes to improve child nutrition, we make recommendations to inform the design and implementation of future programmes.

Download Full-text

Perceptions of a food benefit program that includes financial incentives for the purchase of fruits and vegetables and restrictions on the purchase of foods high in added sugar

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1017/s1368980021001051 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Fatima A Fagbenro ◽

Tessa Lasswell ◽

Sarah A Rydell ◽

J Michael Oakes ◽

Brian Elbel ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Financial Incentives ◽

Fruits And Vegetables ◽

Financial Incentive ◽

Control Group ◽

Added Sugar ◽

Program Satisfaction ◽

Food Purchasing ◽

Households With Children ◽

Participant Perspectives

ABSTRACT Objective To report perspectives of participants in a food benefit program that includes FAS restrictions and FAS restrictions paired with F/V incentives. Design Randomized experimental trial in which participant perspectives were an exploratory study outcome. Setting Participants were randomized into one of three SNAP-like food benefit program groups - (1) Restriction: not allowed to buy FAS with benefits; (2) Restriction paired with incentive: not allowed to buy FAS with benefits and 30% financial incentive on eligible F/V purchased using benefits; or (3) Control: Same food purchasing rules as SNAP. Participants were asked questions to assess program satisfaction. Participants Adults in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN metropolitan area, eligible for but not currently participating in SNAP who completed baseline and follow-up study measures (n=254). Results Among remaining households in each group, most found the program helpful in buying nutritious foods (88.2%-95.7%) and were satisfied with the program (89.1%-93.0%). Sensitivity analysis results indicate that reported helpfulness and satisfaction with the program may in some instances be lower among the Restriction and the Restrictions paired with Incentive groups in comparison to the control group. Conclusions A food benefit program that includes restriction on purchase of FAS or restriction paired with a financial incentive for F/V purchases may be acceptable to most SNAP-eligible households with children.

Download Full-text

Risk of Low Birth Weight According to Household Composition in Brussels and Montreal: Do Income Support Policies Variations Explain the Differences Observed between Both Regions?

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18157936 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (15) ◽

pp. 7936

Author(s):

Mouctar Sow ◽

Myriam De Spiegelaere ◽

Marie-France Raynault

Keyword(s):

Birth Weight ◽

Low Birth Weight ◽

Household Composition ◽

Income Support ◽

Welfare Benefits ◽

Number Of Children ◽

Households With Children ◽

Vulnerable Households ◽

Welfare Families ◽

The Impact

Variations in social policy between countries provide opportunities to assess the impact of these policies on health inequities. This study compares the risk of low birth weight in Brussels and Montreal, according to household composition, and discusses the impact of income support policies. For each context, we estimated the impact of income support policies on the extent of poverty of welfare recipients, using the model family method. Based on the differences found, we tested hypotheses on the association between low birth weight and household composition, using administrative data from the birth register and social security in each region. The extent of poverty of welfare families differs according to household composition. In Quebec, the combination of low welfare benefits and larger family allowances widens the gap between households with children and those without children. The risk of LBW also differs between these two contexts according to the number of children. Compared to children born into large welfare families, first-born children are more at risk in Montreal than in Brussels. In addition to the usual comparative studies on the topic, our study highlights the importance of an evaluative perspective that considers the combination of different types of income support measures to better identify the most vulnerable households.

Download Full-text

HOSTED—England’s Household Transmission Evaluation Dataset: preliminary findings from a novel passive surveillance system of COVID-19

International Journal of Epidemiology ◽

10.1093/ije/dyab057 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

J A Hall ◽

R J Harris ◽

A Zaidi ◽

S C Woodhall ◽

G Dabrera ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Surveillance System ◽

Household Composition ◽

Passive Surveillance ◽

Household Contacts ◽

Household Transmission ◽

The North ◽

Passive Surveillance System ◽

Evaluation Dataset ◽

Households With Children ◽

Lower Transmission

Abstract Background Household transmission of SARS-CoV-2 is an important component of the community spread of the pandemic. Little is known about the factors associated with household transmission, at the level of the case, contact or household, or how these have varied over the course of the pandemic. Methods The Household Transmission Evaluation Dataset (HOSTED) is a passive surveillance system linking laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 cases to individuals living in the same household in England. We explored the risk of household transmission according to: age of case and contact, sex, region, deprivation, month and household composition between April and September 2020, building a multivariate model. Results In the period studied, on average, 5.5% of household contacts in England were diagnosed as cases. Household transmission was most common between adult cases and contacts of a similar age. There was some evidence of lower transmission rates to under-16s [adjusted odds ratios (aOR) 0.70, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.66–0.74). There were clear regional differences, with higher rates of household transmission in the north of England and the Midlands. Less deprived areas had a lower risk of household transmission. After controlling for region, there was no effect of deprivation, but houses of multiple occupancy had lower rates of household transmission [aOR 0.74 (0.66–0.83)]. Conclusions Children are less likely to acquire SARS-CoV-2 via household transmission, and consequently there was no difference in the risk of transmission in households with children. Households in which cases could isolate effectively, such as houses of multiple occupancy, had lower rates of household transmission. Policies to support the effective isolation of cases from their household contacts could lower the level of household transmission.

Download Full-text

Estimating the prevalence of food insecurity of households with children under 15 years, across the globe

Global Food Security ◽

10.1016/j.gfs.2020.100482 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 28 ◽

pp. 100482

Author(s):

Audrey Pereira ◽

Sudhanshu Handa ◽

Göran Holmqvist

Keyword(s):

Food Insecurity ◽

Households With Children

Download Full-text

Does Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Reduce Food Insecurity among Households with Children? Evidence from the Current Population Survey

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph18063178 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (6) ◽

pp. 3178

Author(s):

Jun Zhang ◽

Yanghao Wang ◽

Steven T. Yen

Keyword(s):

Food Security ◽

Food Insecurity ◽

Current Population Survey ◽

Population Survey ◽

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program ◽

Supplemental Nutrition ◽

Assistance Program ◽

Current Population ◽

Households With Children ◽

Nutrition Assistance

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) is designed to improve household diet and food security—a pressing problem confronting low-income families in the United States. Previous studies on the issue often ignored the methodological issue of endogenous program participation. We revisit this important issue by estimating a simultaneous equation system with ordinal household food insecurity. Data are drawn from the 2009–2011 Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (CPS-FSS), restricted to SNAP-eligible households with children. Our results add to the stocks of empirical findings that SNAP participation ameliorates food insecurity among adults only, but increases the probabilities of low and very low food security among children. These contradictory results indicate that our selection approach with a single cross section is only partially successful, and that additional efforts are needed in further analyses of this complicated issue, perhaps with longitudinal data. Socio-demographic variables are found to affect food-secure households and food-insecure households differently, but affect SNAP nonparticipants and participants in the same direction. The state policy tools, such as broad-based categorical eligibility (BBCE) and simplified reporting, can encourage SNAP participation and thus ameliorate food insecurity. Our findings can inform policy deliberations.

Download Full-text

Cracks in the Melting Pot: Immigration, School Choice, and Segregation

American Economic Journal Economic Policy ◽

10.1257/pol.4.3.91 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (3) ◽

pp. 91-117 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Elizabeth U Cascio ◽

Ethan G Lewis

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Public Schools ◽

School Choice ◽

Settlement Patterns ◽

Comparison Group ◽

The United States ◽

Melting Pot ◽

School Demographics ◽

Skilled Immigration ◽

Households With Children

We examine whether low-skilled immigration to the United States has contributed to immigrants' residential isolation by reducing native demand for public schools. We address endogeneity in school demographics using established Mexican settlement patterns in California and use a comparison group to account for immigration's broader effects. We estimate that between 1970 and 2000, the average California school district lost more than 14 non-Hispanic households with children to other districts in its metropolitan area for every 10 additional households enrolling low-English Hispanics in its public schools. By disproportionately isolating children, the native reaction to immigration may have longer-run consequences than previously thought. (JEL H75, I21, J15, J24, J61, R23)

Download Full-text

Food insecurity in families with children under five years of age on the Brazil-Peru Amazon border

Journal of Human Growth and Development ◽

10.7322/jhgd.122761 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 307 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Alanderson Alves Ramalho ◽

Saulo Augusto Silva Mantovani ◽

Humberto Oliart-Guzmán ◽

Fernando Luiz Cunha Castelo Branco ◽

Athos Muniz Braña ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Food Insecurity ◽

Children Under Five ◽

Under Five ◽

Factors Associated ◽

Wood Floor ◽

Nutrition Security ◽

Food And Nutrition ◽

Households With Children ◽

Families With Children ◽

Main Factor

Food and nutrition security is the regular and permanent access to quality food in sufficient quantity. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence and factors associated with food insecurity in households with children under five in the Amazon frontier Brazil - Peru. The study was conducted in 352 households in Assis Brasil (Brazil) and 89 households Iñapari (Peru), finding a prevalence of food insecurity of 40.6 % and 38.2 % , respectively ( p = 0.856 ) . In Assis Brasil, having domicile with wood floors or land increased by 2.47 times the odds of food insecurity compared to cement fl oors, ceramic or quarry tiles . Belonging to the poorest tertile increased the chance of food insecurity in 6.04 times ( p < 0.001 ), and the increment of each new resident increased by 37 % the chance of food insecurity in the household . In Iñapari, only living in house made of wood or with a wood floor was associated with food insecurity, showing that income is still the main factor associated with food insecurity in the Amazonian borders.

Download Full-text