Effects of income on infant health: Evidence from the expanded child tax credit and pandemic stimulus checks

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government issued stimulus checks and expanded the child tax credit. These payments varied by marital status and the number of children in the household. We exploit this plausibly exogenous variation in income during pregnancy to obtain estimates of the effect of income on infant health. Data are from birth certificates and the sample focuses on mothers with high school or less education. The main estimates indicate that pandemic cash payments had virtually no statistically significant, or clinically or economically meaningful effects on infant health (birth weight, gestational age, and fetal growth outcomes), at least for the range of payments received by most mothers.