Between 2010 and 2017, 42 U.S. states added work requirements as a food assistance eligibility criterion for Able-Bodied Adults Without Dependents (ABAWDs). Another U.S. public assistance program, Supplemental Security Income (SSI), provides food assistance without a work requirement, along with...

This paper provides a literature review on youth employment challenges in rural Africa. The rapidly changing demographic structure across the continent is expected to have important economic and social consequences, especially for employment. So far, despite sustained economic growth, African...

This paper introduces a theory-based equivalence scale for public in-kind transfers, which justifies comparison of distributions of extended income (cash income plus the value of public services) between European countries. We demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed equivalence scale in an...

Background: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Brazilian public schools closed in 2020. This lockdown stopped the provision of school meals to public school students, most of whom belonged to low-income families facing food insecurity. To guarantee the students' food security during this period, food...

In-kind transfers can provide insurance benefits when prices of consumption goods vary, as is common in developing countries. We develop a model demonstrating that in-kind transfers are welfare improving to beneficiaries relative to cash if the covariance between the marginal utility of income...

This paper investigates how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program(SNAP) eligibility and benefits affect food expenditures by exploiting theCalifornia "cash-out" policy, which made Supplemental Security Income(SSI) recipients ineligible for SNAP. Using the Consumer ExpenditureSurvey, we find...

This paper investigates how Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) eligibility and benefits affect food expenditures by exploiting the California 'cash-out' policy, which made Supplemental Security Income (SSI) recipients ineligible for SNAP. Using the Consumer Expenditure Survey, we...

In this paper, I examine the effect of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) work requirement reinstatement on food insecurity outcomes of able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). The policy restricts SNAP benefits of ABAWDs to 3 months in a 36 month period if they are not...

Ecological aspects, economical aspects, and biological aspects of insects are attractive to researchers for several reasons. The consumption of insects called entomophagy is a matter of discussion since the last few decades because the published literature views entomophagy as a potential...

Recipients of means-tested program benefits must periodically document continued eligibility through a recertification process. We find evidence that the administrative burden associated with SNAP recertification leads to decreases in program participation. Cases assigned to later...

We use novel, large-scale data on 43 million Americans from the 2000 Census and the 2001 to 2013 American Communities Survey linked to the Social Security Administration’s NUMIDENT to study how a policy-driven increase in economic resources for families affects children’s long-term outcomes....

This paper analyzes the factors contributing to the worldwide long-run rise in obesity and the effects of public interventions on its continued growth. The growth of obesity in a population results from an increase in calorie consumption relative to physical activity. Yet in developed countries,...

We analyze the relationship between prenatal WIC participation and birth outcomes in New York City from 1988-2001. The analysis is unique for several reasons. First, we restrict the analysis to women on Medicaid and or WIC who have no previous live births and who initiate prenatal care within...

This paper examines if welfare programs reduce the probability that vulnerable household experience food deprivation because of financial constraints. Although the 1996 welfare reform legislation specifically limited the eligibility of immigrant households to receive assistance, many states...

This paper exploits panel data from the Food Security Survey to examine varying transaction costs on SNAP benefit take-up by tracking individuals eligible for SNAP benefits. Using a logistic regression model, I find SNAP-eligible households living in states with relatively low transaction costs...

The triple burden of malnutrition is growing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Increasing access to affordable ultra-processed foods in the food environment is contributing to this problem. While existing explanations for this triple burden of malnutrition have examined demand-side...

Traditional transfer programs in the United States provide few benefits to childless adults, so little is known about the effects of these policies on able-bodied adults without dependents (ABAWDs). We examine a novel source of variation in the SNAP (Food Stamps) program, in which unemployed...

Against the compelling backdrop of climate change and the highly problematic environmental, social, and cultural costs of modern food systems, there is a quest for a profound food-system change beyond mitigation and adaptation policies. On all political levels, policymakers search for food...

The Atkinson-Stiglitz theorem on uniform consumption taxation breaks down if prices are endogenous. This paper investigates the implications for optimal food subsidies in China. To do so, we build a general equilibrium model where low-skilled workers have a comparative advantage in the...

In 2008, nearly 15 percent of U.S. households were food insecure, meaning the household members lacked consistent access to enough food for healthy lives. Half of low-income, female-headed households with children were food insecure in 2008. To address food insecurity and inadequate child...

Many community organizations provide services similar to government income assistance programs but there is little empirical evidence on how these systems interact. We examine how greater access to government nutritional aid through free school meals affects local food bank utilization by...

The Atkinson-Stiglitz theorem on uniform consumption taxation breaks down if prices are endogenous. This paper investigates the implications for optimal food subsidies in China. To do so, we build a general equilibrium model where low-skilled workers have a comparative advantage in the...

We use data from the third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to examine the prevalence and determinants of poor nutritional outcomes among American youths. One strength of our analysis is that we focus on an array of nutritional outcomes, and we find in fact that the determinants...

TANF and SNAP cases increased by 3.4 million between March and June 2020, their largest quarterly increase ever. This paper explores trends on the caseload growth and pandemic policies during the COVID-19 pandemic. TANF and SNAP caseloads initially rose sharply by 10 and 18 percent, but...

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to significant changes in where people work, eat and socialise. We use novel data on the food and non-alcoholic drink purchases from stores, takeaways, restaurants and other outlets to quantify the impact of the pandemic on the diets of a large, representative panel...

Despite initial concerns of catastrophic outcomes, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting lockdown measures did not severely affect regional agriculture in Central Asia and the Caucasus. They did, however, affect food supply chains in terms of demand and logistics. Food prices were volatile...

Long-term follow-up of early childhood health interventions is important for human capital accumulation. We provide experimental evidence on child health and human capital outcomes from the longer-term follow-up of a school-based nutrition intervention in India. Using panel data, we examine the...

Market access influences the dietary diversity and food security for smallholder households in many ways. In Ethiopia, most smallholders are subsistence farmers who have poor access to markets. This study used primary data from a household survey to examine the relationship between market access...

Food-based transfer programs have the potential to change diets or alter basic crop mixes. This study empirically investigates the associations between participating in food-for-work (FFW) programs and the diversity of food consumption and production. Four waves of panel data from the Tigray...