Easing Cash Assistance Rules During COVID-19 Was Associated With Reduced Days Of Poor Physical And Mental Health.
Easing Cash Assistance Rules During COVID-19 Was Associated With Reduced Days Of Poor Physical And Mental Health.
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DOI：
10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00740
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发表时间：
2022-11-01
期刊：
影响因子：
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通讯作者：
Shafer, Paul R
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Dore, Emily C;Livingston Iii, Melvin D 3rd;Shafer, Paul R
2019冠状病毒病疫情在美国爆发之初，失业率飙升，增加了可能影响身心健康的财务压力。贫困家庭临时援助（TANF）是美国低收入家庭的主要现金援助计划，福利条件是工作活动，并可能暂停。然而，许多州在疫情期间放宽了要求。使用TANF政策数据和2017年1月至2020年12月期间行为风险因素监测系统的数据，采用三重差异设计，我们发现在COVID-19大流行期间，对TANF的支持性变化对身心健康状况不佳和酗酒的可能参与者具有一般保护作用。例如，向那些尚未参加TANF的人提供紧急现金福利，放弃工作要求，放弃或暂停制裁，以及自动重新认证福利与精神不健康天数的减少有关。这项研究为增加慷慨和减轻安全网计划的行政负担提供了支持，以缓冲公共卫生和经济危机的负面影响。
Unemployment rates soared at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, increasing financial stress that can affect physical and mental health. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is the primary cash assistance program for low-income families in the US, with benefits conditional on work activities and subject to suspension. However, many states loosened requirements during the pandemic. Using TANF policy data and data from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System from the period January2017-December2020 with a triple-difference design, we found a general protective effect of supportive changes to TANF on poor physical and mental health days and binge drinking during the COVID-19 pandemic for likely TANF participants. For example, providing emergency cash benefits to those not already participating in TANF, waiving work requirements, waiving or pausing sanctions, and automatically recertifying benefits were associated with reductions in the number of mentally unhealthy days. This study provides support for increasing generosity and easing administrative burdens in safety-net programs to buffer against negative impacts of public health and economic crises.