TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fishback,Price V.
AU  - Haines,Michael R.
AU  - Kantor,Shawn
TI  - The Welfare of Children During the Great Depression
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 8902
PY  - 2002
Y2  - April 2002
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8902
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w8902.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Price V. Fishback
Department of Economics
University of Arizona
Tucson, AZ  85721
Tel: 520/621-4421
Fax: 520/621-8450
E-Mail: pfishback@eller.arizona.edu

Michael R. Haines
Department of Economics, 217 Persson Hall
Colgate University
13 Oak Drive
Hamilton, NY 13346
Tel: 315/228-7536
Fax: 315/228-7033
E-Mail: MHAINES@MAIL.COLGATE.EDU

Shawn E. Kantor
Department of Economics
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Sage Laboratory, 3404
110 Eighth Street
Troy, NY 12180
Tel: 518-276-3925
E-Mail: kantos@rpi.edu
AB  - This paper examines the impact of New Deal relief programs on demographic outcomes in major U.S. cities during the 1930s.  A five-equation structural model is estimated that tests the effect of the relief spending on infant mortality, non-infant mortality, and fertility.  For 111 cities for which data on relief spending during the 1930s were available, we collected annual data that matched the relief spending to the demographic variables, socioeconomic descriptions of the cities, and retail sales, which serve  as a proxy for the level of economic activity.  Relief spending directly lowered infant mortality rates to the degree that changes in relief spending can explain nearly one-third of the decline in infant mortality during the 1930s.  Relief spending also raised general fertility rates.  Our estimates suggest that the cost of saving an infant life during this period ranged from $2 to 4.5 million dollars (measured in year 2000 dollars).  This range is similar to that found in modern studies of the effect of Medicaid and is within the range of market values of human life.
ER  -