Stable homes are vital for good health. Research demonstrates children’s health improves when their families are able to live in homes they can afford without falling behind on rent, moving frequently, or experiencing homelessness. Unfortunately, Massachusetts has a shortage of affordable rental homes across the state. For every 100 families with extremely low incomes* in […]
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) improves the health and well-being of children and lifts families out of poverty across the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Currently, however, not all families in Massachusetts are eligible to claim the state EITC, despite living and working in the Commonwealth. These families include immigrants who file taxes using an Individual […]
This report card examines children’ weight over time. We looked at almost 3,000 infants and toddlers from low-income families who started life in a healthy state – born at a healthy birth weight and at term. Most children remained at a healthy weight at both visits (on average 1 year apart). Children with an unhealthy […]
Access to affordable health care is important for young children and their parents’ overall health. When health care services are affordable, children are more able to access needed care, including preventive services such as well child visits and immunizations. Optimal child health is best achieved when parents are also in good health. But parents’ health […]
The basic needs of all Arkansas families — a stable home; nutritious food; heating, cooling or electricity; and access to affordable health care — are deeply interwoven. In this report we focus on several policy solutions that address the financial cost of health care and its inherently intertwined relationship with the overall household budget. Systematically […]
In this report, “SNAP: Building a Healthy Foundation Today and Tomorrow,” we highlight SNAP’s impact on health throughout the lifespan, the staggering avoidable health- and education-related costs of food insecurity across the nation, recent research linking SNAP participation and reduced health care expenditures, state and national level data documenting better educational outcomes associated with SNAP, and […]
Summary of Findings All children need stable homes to thrive. High costs associated with raising a young child with special health care needs (SHCN) may strain a family’s budget and impact their ability to afford housing expenses. Children’s HealthWatch research demonstrates that compared to children without SHCN, children with SHCN are more likely to live […]