Association Between the Expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments and Child Maltreatment
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Published on: January 29, 2018
Liwei Zhang1, Yi Wang2, Ruijie Ma3
1School of Social Work, University of Georgia, Athens, Georgia.
Introduction:
Existing studies show expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits during the COVID-19 pandemic were associated with reduced food insufficiency and mental health issues. However, little is known about their role in child maltreatment prevention. This study examines whether expiration of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments was associated with changes in child maltreatment rates.
Methods:
This study used nationwide administrative data aggregated at the county, state, and biweekly levels from January 2021 to February 2022 in the U.S. Counties in 10 states that ended Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments during the study period comprised the treatment group; counties in the remaining states and the District of Columbia served as controls. The exposure was state-level Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments expiration. Outcomes included county-level child maltreatment substantiation and report rates overall and by type (neglect and physical abuse). Analyses used two-way fixed-effects difference-in-differences models and heterogeneous difference-in-differences models. Data were collected from 2023 to 2025 and analyzed from 2025 to 2026.
Results:
Among 1,153 counties analyzed, 205 counties in 10 states ended Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments during the study period. Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments expiration was associated with increased substantiated maltreatment overall (b=0.05; p<0.05; 95% CI=0.01, 0.09), physical abuse (b=0.01; p<0.05; 95% CI=0.00, 0.02), and neglect (b=0.03; p<0.05; 95% CI=0.01, 0.05). No significant association was found with report rates. Heterogeneous difference-in-difference estimates suggest that effects emerged gradually after Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Emergency Allotments expiration and increased over time.
Conclusions:
The expiration of pandemic-expanded Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits was associated with increases in substantiated child maltreatment, highlighting the role of nutrition supports in preventing child maltreatment.
