Young Adult Obesity and Household Income: Effects of Unconditional Cash Transfers

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Akee, Randall; Simeonova, Emilia; Copeland, William; Angold, Adrian; Costello, E. Jane
• 署名单位: University of California System; University of California Los Angeles; Tufts University; Princeton University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Duke University
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.5.2.1
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 1-28
• 关键词: socioeconomic-status; family income; head-start; HEALTH; IMPACT; childhood; weight; AGE; overweight; CHILDREN

摘要

We investigate the effect of household cash transfers during childhood on young adult body mass indexes (BMI). The effects of extra income differ depending on the household's initial socioeconomic status (SES). Children from the initially poorest households have a larger increase in BMI relative to children from initially wealthier households. Several alternative mechanisms are examined. Initial SES holds up as the most likely channel behind the heterogeneous effects of extra income on young adult BMI. (JEL D14, H23, H75, I12, J13, J15)