Spending on public benefit programs and exposure to adverse childhood experiences

Abstract

Background: Adverse childhood experiences are associated with poverty, and public benefit programs are increasingly used as primary prevention for negative child outcomes.

Objective: To estimate the association between spending on benefit programs and cumulative exposure to ACEs among children.

Participants and setting: Children aged 0-17 years in the United States during 2016-17 as reported in National Survey of Children's Health.

Methods: We examined the sum of state and federal spending on 5 categories of public benefit programs at the state-level. The primary exposure was mean annual spending per person living below the Federal poverty limit across 2010-2017 Federal fiscal years. The primary outcome was children <18 years old having ever been exposed to ≥ 4 ACEs.

Results: Nationally, 5.7 % (95 % confidence interval [CI] 5.3 % - 6.0 %) of children had exposure to ≥ 4 ACEs. After adjustment for children's race and ethnicity, total spending on benefit programs was associated with lower exposure to ≥ 4 ACEs (odds 0.96 [95 % CI: 0.95, 0.97]; p < 0.001). Increased spending in each individual benefit category was also associated with decreased cumulative ACEs exposure (all p < 0.05). Inverse associations were largely consistent when children were stratified by race and ethnicity and income strata.

Conclusions: Investments in public benefit programs may not only decrease poverty but also have broad positive effects on near- and long-term child well-being beyond the programs' stated objectives. Findings support federal and state efforts to prioritize families' economic stability as part of a public health model to prevent ACEs.

Keywords: Adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); Child care and development fund (CCDF); Medicaid; Public benefit programs; Supplemental nutrition assistance program (SNAP); Temporary assistance for needy families (TANF).