“I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining Benefits
This study examines how individuals assess administrative burdens and how these views change over time within the context of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under age fi...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Russell Sage Foundation
2023-09-01
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| Series: | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| Subjects: |
| _version_ | 1797739934666194944 |
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| author | Carolyn Barnes Sarah Halpern-Meekin Jill Hoiting |
| author_facet | Carolyn Barnes Sarah Halpern-Meekin Jill Hoiting |
| author_sort | Carolyn Barnes |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This study examines how individuals assess administrative burdens and how these views change over time within the context of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under age five. Using interview data from the Baby’s First Years: Mothers’ Voices study (n = 80), we demonstrate how the circumstances of family life, shifting food needs and preferences, and the receipt of other resources shape how mothers perceive the costs and benefits of program participation. We find that mothers’ perceptions of WIC’s costs and benefits vary over time and contribute to program participation trajectories, so many eligible people do not participate; need alone does not drive participation decisions. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:04:22Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-fc70ff774c144ff296ca821ee05d1437 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2377-8253 2377-8261 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T14:04:22Z |
| publishDate | 2023-09-01 |
| publisher | Russell Sage Foundation |
| record_format | Article |
| series | RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-fc70ff774c144ff296ca821ee05d14372023-08-21T15:46:06ZengRussell Sage FoundationRSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences2377-82532377-82612023-09-01953255https://doi.org/10.7758/RSF.2023.9.5.02“I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining BenefitsCarolyn Barnes0Sarah Halpern-Meekin1Jill Hoiting2Duke UniversityUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonUniversity of Wisconsin–MadisonThis study examines how individuals assess administrative burdens and how these views change over time within the context of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), which provides food to pregnant and breastfeeding women and children under age five. Using interview data from the Baby’s First Years: Mothers’ Voices study (n = 80), we demonstrate how the circumstances of family life, shifting food needs and preferences, and the receipt of other resources shape how mothers perceive the costs and benefits of program participation. We find that mothers’ perceptions of WIC’s costs and benefits vary over time and contribute to program participation trajectories, so many eligible people do not participate; need alone does not drive participation decisions.nutrition assistanceadministrative burdensocial policypovertyinequality |
| spellingShingle | Carolyn Barnes Sarah Halpern-Meekin Jill Hoiting “I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining Benefits RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences nutrition assistance administrative burden social policy poverty inequality |
| title | “I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining Benefits |
| title_full | “I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining Benefits |
| title_fullStr | “I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining Benefits |
| title_full_unstemmed | “I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining Benefits |
| title_short | “I Used to Get WIC . . . But Then I Stopped”: How WIC Participants Perceive the Value and Burdens of Maintaining Benefits |
| title_sort | i used to get wic but then i stopped how wic participants perceive the value and burdens of maintaining benefits |
| topic | nutrition assistance administrative burden social policy poverty inequality |
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