Increases to WIC’s Cash-Value Benefit for Fruits and Vegetables and Higher Benefit Redemption

Vollständiger Abstract

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BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE The cash-value benefit (CVB) in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) supports low-income households with young children to purchase fruits and vegetables. Our objective was to estimate whether the amounts households spent with the CVB increased after recent policy changes. METHODS In this natural experiment from 2017 to 2022 among 485 560 Massachusetts WIC-participating households with children aged less than 4 years, an interrupted time series analysis estimated the association between (1) an initial CVB increase from $9 per month for children to $35 per month in June 2021 and (2) an adjustment to $24 per month for children with the absolute cash value and proportion redeemed of the CVB each month. RESULTS Before the first CVB change in June 2021, households (who often had multiple WIC participants within) redeemed an average of $11.45 per month, or 85% of the total benefit issued. In June 2021, the average dollar amount redeemed per household immediately increased (+$21.73; 95% CI, $21.27 to $22.19) and then stayed steady. In October 2021, the amount redeemed immediately decreased (−$6.89, 95% CI, −$7.38 to −$6.39) but then started gradually increasing by $0.57 per month (95% CI, $0.17 to $0.96). No significant trends were observed in the proportion of CVB redeemed, which remained consistently high. CONCLUSIONS Increasing the CVB amount was associated with substantial increases in the amount of WIC benefits spent on fruits and vegetables for households with young children. These households’ consistent, high use of the increased CVB suggests the evidence-based increase to this benefit addressed an unmet need.