Welfare Work Requirements and Child Well-Being: Evidence from the Effects on Breastfeeding

Bob Schoeni, University of Michigan
Steve Haider, Michigan State University
Ali Jacknowitz, RAND

The central theme of welfare reform is the requirement that welfare recipients engage in work activities. In many states this requirement applies even to mothers whose children are just a few months old. Holding a job increases the costs of breastfeeding, which in turn could reduce the propensity of new mothers to breastfeed their children. In this paper, we examine whether the work requirements adopted as part of welfare reform have reduced the prevalence of breastfeeding. Given the substantial short- and long-term benefits that breastfeeding imparts on children and mothers, any reduction in breastfeeding would represent an important negative consequence of these work requirements. We find that if welfare reform had not been adopted, national breastfeeding rates six months after birth would have been 5.6 percent higher than they are today.