WIC Benefits Issued Remotely Increased Participation, Especially In States With Online Benefit Distribution, 2017-21

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) provides food assistance and nutrition education for pregnant and postpartum women and children younger than age five in low-income households. State policy changes implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic aimed to increase WIC access. This study used national administrative data from the period January 2017-March 2021 and a quasi-experimental difference-in-differences approach to assess the associations between five state-level policy changes and WIC participation rates overall and among women, children (ages 1-4), and infants (under age 1) (N = 2,550 state-months). Remote WIC benefit issuance increased participation rates: States that allowed remote benefit issuance experienced a 10 percent relative increase in total WIC participation compared with states that did not. No other policy changes were independently associated with participation, which may be related to difficulty disentangling single policy effects during the pandemic. Findings from this study suggest that policy makers should consider removing barriers to safety-net programs to increase participation rates among eligible people.