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Overview of WIC and
the Current Estimation Methodology
WIC started as a pilot program in 1972 and became a permanent
program in fiscal year (FY) 1974, at which time it grew rapidly. The num-
ber of women, infants, and young children served per month increased
from 0.2 million in FY 1974, to 3.6 million in FY 1988, to 7.2 million in
FY 2000. WIC provides three types of benefits: supplemental food, usually
in the form of vouchers or checks that can be exchanged for specific foods
from participating retail grocers; nutrition education; and referrals to health
care and to other social services.
The federal government gives grants to states, territories, and Indian
tribes to provide the supplemental food, nutrition education, and health
and social service referrals and to administer the program. State grant allo-
cations are based on the amount the state received in the previous year and
on the estimated number of income-eligible infants and children in that
state.1 States then fund local agencies that actually provide the services to
participants. Since WIC is not an entitlement program, allocated amounts
of funding may not be sufficient to serve all the eligible persons who wish
to participate. If local agencies do not receive enough funds to serve all
eligible applicants, they establish a prioritized waiting list. Federal regula-
tions specify a seven-point priority system (7CFR Subpart C, Section
These estimates of state levels of income eligibility are separate from the national-level
estimates, but the sum of allocations to all states equals the national estimates.
18
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 19
246.7(d)4; Federal Register, April 19, 1995, 60 (75)19, 487-489, 491), in
which priority is based on the type of nutritional risk and the eligibility
category. In general, pregnant and breastEeeding women and infants have
higher priority than children and nonbreastEeeding postpartum women.
Within these groups, those who are nutritionally at risk based on anthropo-
metric, hematologic, or other nutrition-related medical conditions have
higher priority than those who qualify as nutritionally at risk based on
inadequate diet (see U.S. Department of Agriculture, 2002, for further
information on the WIC priority system). The last year a state had to imple-
ment a priority waiting list was 2002. States that experienced shortages of
funds to serve all eligible applicants in 2002 obtained supplemental fund-
ing from the federal government.
This chapter explains how the estimates of eligibility and participation
are used by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and why the esti-
mates are made. It also includes information on eligibility for WIC and a
description of current USDA methods used to estimate eligibility and par-
. . . . .
tlclpatlon natlonwl( ~e.
PURPOSES OF ESTIMATING
ELIGIBILITY AND PARTICIPATION
The USDA estimates of eligibility and participation in the WIC pro-
gram are used to guide budget requests for the program each year. The
estimates of eligibility and the estimates of participation among eligibles
are used for additional purposes for example, to evaluate the effectiveness
of the program in serving the eligible population.
Budgetary Planning
In the recent past, it has been the goal of both Congress and the ad-
ministration to fully fund WIC—that is, to provide enough funds so that
everyone who is eligible and wanted to participate in the program could.
USDA has used estimates of the number of full-funding participants to
inform budgetary requests. In the mid- to late 1990s, many observers came
to the conclusion that the full-funding level of participants had been
reached. This was because states had some unspent funds for FY 1996 and
because coverage rates for the program (the number of participants divided
by the number of people estimated to be eligible for the program) were well
over 100 percent for infants and pregnant women throughout the late
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20 ESTIMATING ELIGIBILITYANDPARTICIPATIONFOR THE WICPROGRAM
1990s. However, some observers claimed that the number of people eli-
gible for the program was underestimated, that there was still unmet need,
and that more funding should be allocated to meet these needs. As dis-
cussed in Chapter 1, these two views were the impetus for the USDA re-
quest for this study.
Throughout this debate concerning the estimates of eligibility and par-
ticipation, USDA has continued to make estimates ofthe number of people
eligible and likely to participate in WIC. However, it has not made any
changes to its methodology to address these criticisms because it is waiting
for this panel's report. Although estimates of eligibility and participation
continue to be made, they have not been used to inform budgetary re-
quests. Instead, budgets have been set to serve a particular number of people
believed to be close to the number of fully funded participants (about 7.5
million).
Is WIC Fully Funded'
As we discuss in Chapter 3, the number of participants served in a
given year is very close to the number the budget was intended to support.
A naive assessment might conclude that the methods used to estimate par-
ticipation to inform budgetary requests are reasonably accurate. But this
apparent accuracy is, in reality, an artifact of a circuitous process. Fund
allocations based on participation estimates are made to states, and then
the states use the funds to serve as many eligible applicants as they can with
the funds. It is not surprising, then, that the number of participants served
is very close to the number for which the budget was set. In the event that
more eligible people apply for WIC than were originally budgeted for, states
may implement a priority waiting system, or it is possible for states to
receive supplementary funding to serve all those who are eligible, but in the
recent past, waiting lists and supplementary funds have very rarely been
needed.
It is not correct, however, to conclude that, since waiting lists and
supplementary funds have not been needed, WIC has been fully funded.
The number of participants under full funding is a policy choice that is,
the number can be altered by changes in program rules or administrative
practice. Furthermore, there may be many people who are eligible for WIC
and who could benefit from the program, but who are unaware of it or
cannot easily take part. Local outreach efforts or changes in the administra-
tion of the program (e.g., more conveniently located offices, evening office
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 21
hours) may mean that a greater percentage of eligible people apply for the
program. States receive funds that can be used for program outreach, but
they have an incentive to increase program participation only to the level
that their allocated funds allow them to serve additional participants. It is
inherently more difficult to estimate the number of likely participants be-
cause participation in WIC is a behavioral choice.2 Some individuals may
decide that the benefits of WIC are too low to offset the time spent apply-
ing for the program, or that the stigma of participation is too high, or some
eligible people may not be aware of the program. The panel focuses much
more on the estimation of eligibility than on participation because eligibil-
ity is less of a behavioral choice than is the decision to participate.
Coverage Rate Estimates
Estimates of the number of eligible persons are also important for pro-
grammatic reasons. Each year the Food and Nutrition Service (ENS) of
USDA publishes coverage rates for the WIC program. These rates estimate
the percentage of eligible persons by category who participate in WIC. The
estimates are computed by dividing the number of WIC participants in a
year (based on administrative records) by the number of people estimated
to be eligible for that year. USDA's estimated coverage rates, by category,
for the past eight years are given in Table 2-1. These coverage rate estimates
have been used by ENS and policy makers to gauge the span of the pro-
gram over the eligible population. Notably, coverage rates for infants and
postpartum women have exceeded 100 percent since 1994. In 2000, cover-
age rates for infants were 131 percent and coverage rates for postpartum
women were 134 percent, indicating that over 30 percent more infants and
women participated in WIC than were estimated to be eligible. Mean-
while, coverage rates for children and pregnant women were much lower,
generally between 60 and 70 percent. Coverage rates in excess of 100 per-
cent have prompted some members of Congress to raise concerns that in-
eligible people are participating in the program.
2There may be a behavioral component to eligibility also. An individual who is aware of
the WIC program may change her behavior to become eligible for the program (e.g., WIC's
benefits could offset some of the time a mother may have to work in order to gain the same
level of consumption).
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22 ESTIMATING ELIGIBILII~YANDPARTICIPATIONFOR THE WICPROGRAM
TABLE 2-1 USDA Estimates of Coverage Rates of Infants, Postpartum
and Pregnant Women, and Young Children
Postpartum Pregnant
Year Infants Women Women Children
1993 97.8 78.9 52.3 48.0
1994 111.0 101.2 59.0 56.9
1995 109.4 105.3 58.0 64.4
1996 113.8 117.2 62.0 69.5
1997 121.7 121.7 69.1 74.5
1998a 127.7 127.4 72.9 74.4
1999a 130.4 130.1 72.4 76.0
2000 130.9 134.1 72.9 78.8
aThe coverage rate estimates for 1998 and 1999 are unofficial USDA estimates pro-
vided to the panel to show what the estimates would be using the existing methodology
for those two years.
NOTE: Coverage rates are defined as the average monthly number of WIC participants
(from administrative data) divided by the estimated number of eligible people (from the
Current Population Survey) for each category for a given year.
Estimating the Effects of Changes in Program Policies
Estimates of eligibility and of participation among eligible people are
also important to understanding how changes in the rules or administrative
policies of WIC or of other programs affect eligibility and participation.
WIC program rules and administrative policies change. Such changes may
affect how many people are eligible for WIC and what percentage of those
who are eligible are likely to participate. Furthermore, changes in other
assistance programs can affect the number of people eligible and likely to
participate in WIC because those who are enrolled in Medicaid, Temporary
Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and food stamps are adjunctively
eligible for WIC. The only way to really understand how changes in these
factors affect participation levels (and thus budget needs) is to use a model-
based approach to estimating WIC participation, in which participation
decisions of individuals are modeled. We return to this issue in Chapter 8.
Understanding External Influences on
WIC Eligibility and Participation
External influences may affect the number of people eligible and the
likelihood that they will participate. For example, a downturn in the
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 23
economy may mean more people are eligible for the program and more
may participate. Changes in the birth rates of certain subgroups with a
higher propensity to participate in WIC may affect program participation
as well. Lower participation by some subgroups points to areas in which
outreach may need to be more effective.
WIC ELIGIBILITY
Types of Eligibility and Certification Practices
To receive WIC benefits, an applicant must be categorically eligible,
income eligible, and nutritionally at risk. Applicants must also be residents
of the state in which they apply. Box 2-1 outlines the eligibility require-
ments for WIC. To be categorically eligible, an applicant must be an infant
or child under the age of 5 years, a pregnant woman, a nonbreastEeeding
postpartum woman less than 6 months postpartum, or a breastSeeding post-
partum woman less than 12 months postpartum. The supplemental foods
provided differ for each of the five eligibility categories. For example, the
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24 ESTIMATING ELIGIBILITYAND PAR TICIPATION FOR THE ~CPROGR~
food provided to a nonbreastSed infant includes infant formula, while the
food provided to a child includes milk, vitamin C-rich juice, iron-fortified
cereal, and eggs.
To be income eligible, an applicant's income must be less than or equal
to 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines, defined by the U.S. De-
partment of Health and Human Services (DHHS) poverty guidelines ac-
cording to family size. Those who are enrolled in the federal Medicaid,
Food Stamp, or TANF programs are adjunctively eligible for WIC even if
their income exceeds 185 percent of poverty. States also may use enroll-
ment in other means-tested programs, such as the National School Lunch
Program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program, to qualify
an applicant as automatically income eligible for WIC.
To be considered nutritionally at risk, an applicant must meet at least
one of the many approved nutritional risk criteria. These risk criteria fall
under five broad categories: anthropometric risk (e.g., underweight, obe-
sity); biochemical risk (e.g., low hematocrit); medical risk (e.g., diabetes
mellitus); dietary risk (e.g., inappropriate dietary patterns); and predispos-
ing factors (e.g., homelessness).
Once it is determined that an applicant is fully eligible for WIC, she is
then certified to receive WIC benefits for a period of time. The certification
period over which an eligible applicant may receive monthly WIC benefits
varies by the category of eligibility. Pregnant women can be certified from
the time they become pregnant through 6 weeks postpartum. Postpartum
women are certified for up to 6 months after giving birth if they are not
breastSeeding and up to a year after giving birth if they breastSeed for more
than 6 months. Infants are certified for 6 months or until they reach age 1
year most often for their entire first year. Children are certified every 6
months, but not beyond their fifth birthday. If the eligibility status of a
participant changes during the certification period, it should be reported to
WIC staff. Except for the case in which a breastSeeding mother changes her
status to nonbreastSeeding, which results in an increase in the amount of
infant formula received, there is little incentive to declare changes in status.
Flexibility in Determining Eligibility
Regulations governing the administration of the WIC program give
considerable flexibility to local WIC agencies to determine whether an
applicant is eligible. For example, WIC rules allow state and local agencies
flexibility in the documentation used to verify an applicant's income and
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 25
in the time period (weekly, monthly, annually) covered by the documenta-
tion. Such variation among agencies creates uncertainty in selecting the
most appropriate methods to estimate the number of people eligible for
WIC on a national level. In this section, we discuss areas in which some
flexibility is allowed namely, the accounting period for measuring in-
come and nutritional risk criteria. The accounting period for measuring
income is likely to have the largest impact on estimates of eligibility made
using nationally representative surveys. In Chapter 5 we provide estimates
of eligibility using different accounting periods across multiple years of
data.
Accounting Periodtfor Income
State and local agencies have wide discretion over what accounting
period is used to determine whether an applicant's income meets eligibility
guidelines. Agencies may consider annual income or current income (ei-
therweekly or monthly). In 1998, 87.7 percent of local agencies accepted a
pay stub, 80.2 percent accepted a W-2 form, 72.1 percent accepted a letter
from an employer, and 81.1 percent accepted a tax form as documentation
of income (United States Department of Agriculture, 2000b). We do not
have information on what percentage of applicants actually present the
different forms of income documentation.3 USDA specifies only that the
agency should consider whichever period is a more accurate indicator of
the family's status. For example, an unemployed applicant may report in-
come in the period during which she is unemployed, but a teacher who is
paid on a 10-month basis should be asked to report income during the
period for which she is employed. Variation in the application of rules
about the accounting period for income means that definitions of income
used to estimate eligibility may not exactly match definitions of income as
they are applied by local WIC offices in assessing eligibility. For instance,
for those whose income varies over the course of a year, monthly incomes
may be below the eligibility threshold but annual incomes may be above
the eligibility threshold. National estimates of eligibility based on a monthly
measure are likely to be greater than eligibility estimates based on an annual
measure. Chapter 5 addresses this topic in more detail.
3Given that a pay stub is probably the most readily accessible form of documentation, it
is likely to be the most widely used.
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26 ESTI~TING ELIGIBILI>~D PAR TICIPATION FOR THE ~CPROG~
Nutritional Risk Criteria
Prior to 1998, the nutritional risk criteria used by states were
unstandardized, and states had wide latitude in determining which criteria
to use and the cutoff values that would separate persons at risk from those
not at risk. States now have adopted standardized anthropometric, medical,
predisposing, and certain dietary risk criteria. However, they still are al-
lowed to use cutoff values that are more stringent than those in the stan-
dardized list of criteria, and they may omit the use of some of the standard-
1ze( ~ criteria.
Since two widely used types of dietary risk criteria, failure to meet dli-
etary guidlelines and inadlequate diet, still are unstandardized across states,
local WIC offices use different methods for determining if a person is at
dietary risk. Based on a recent Institute of Medicine report (2002) that
reviewed the scientific basis for these two types of dietary risk, we anticipate
that states soon will work to adopt standardized criteria for those two types
of dietary risk as well. In the meantime, variation in local methods to deter-
mine nutritional risk could contribute to inaccuracies in national estimates
of the numbers of persons eligible for WIC.
CURRENT METHODS FOR ESTIMATING ELIGIBILITY AND
FULL-FUNDING PARTICIPATION
This section provides an overview of the methods currently used by
USDA to make national estimates of the numbers of women, infants, and
young children who are eligible for WIC and likely to participate if the
program is fully funded. We first describe the methods USDA uses to esti-
mate the number of persons fully eligible for WIC, that is, the number who
meet categorical, income or adjunctive, and nutritional eligibility criteria.
Boxes 2-2 through 2-6 provide an overview of the estimation steps for each
eligibility category. We then describe the method used to estimate how
many fully eligible persons will participate if funds are available. Greater
detail on the currently used methods can be found in U.S. Department of
Agriculture (1999a).
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 27
Estimates of the Number of Fully Eligible Persons
Estimates of the numbers of persons eligible for WIC are produced
separately for each category of eligibility. The estimate of the number of
infants who are eligible is especially important to obtaining an estimate of
the total number eligible for WIC because it is used to derive the numbers
of eligible pregnant and postpartum women. Estimates of income-eligible
infants and children are referred to as the "core" estimates because they are
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28 ESTIMATING ELIGIBILITYANDPARTICIPATIONFOR THE WICPROGRAM
calculated directly from nationally representative survey data on those two
groups.
USDA uses the March Demographic Supplement ofthe Current Popu-
lation Survey (CPS) to estimate the number of infants and children living
in families with annual incomes below 185 percent offederal poverty guide-
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 29
lines.4 The March CPS gathers data on family income for the previous
calendar year (e.g., the 2002 March CPS collected income for calendar year
20011. Appendix A provides more detail on the March CPS.
In assessing family income in the eligibility determination process,
states can adopt either the income guidelines for the Free and Reduced
Price School Lunch Program or the income guidelines for free or reduced
price health care programs. Box 2-7 lists income sources counted under
both guidelines. If the free and reduced price health care definition is used,
the following sources of income are excluded for determining eligibility:
the value of in-kind housing and other in-kind benefits and payments or
benefits provided under certain federal programs (e.g., some social pro-
4The DHHS poverty guideline should not be confused with the Census Bureau's pov-
erty thresholds, which are used to provide annual estimates of the number of individuals and
families in poverty. The DHHS poverty guidelines that are used to administer many low-
income transfer programs take into account only family size. The Census Bureau's poverty
thresholds account for differences in family size, number of children, and age of the head of
the family. DHHS issues new poverty guidelines annually, and WIC program offices begin
using the new thresholds in June. For the purposes of developing eligibility estimates, USDA
averages the guideline from the previous year with the guideline for the year of the CPS
survey. For example, the March 2002 survey provides income data for calendar year 2001. To
estimate the number of income-eligible individuals in 2001, USDA would average the guide-
lines for 2000 and 2001.
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30 ESTIMATING ELIGIBILITYANDPARTICIPATIONFOR THE WICPROGRAM
grams, such as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the
value of benefits from the Free and Reduced Price School Lunch Program,
and payments to members of various Indian tribes).
For the purposes of estimating income eligibility, current USDA meth-
ods use annual census money income to define income, which includes all
the sources listed in Box 2-7. Families are defined using the Census Bureau's
family definition that is, a group of two or more people related by birth,
marriage, or adoption and residing together, including related subfamily
members.
To obtain the number of income-eligible pregnant women, the current
USDA method multiplies the number of income-eligible infants by 0.75.
This adjustment accounts for the pregnancy lasting for 9 months of a year.
The number of births is assumed to be constant over the time period be-
tween when the estimates of infants are made and the 9 months prior to the
birth of the infant.
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 31
To obtain estimates of the numbers of breastEeeding and nonbreast-
feeding postpartum women, the estimate of income-eligible infants is first
adjusted downward slightly to account for multiple births and infant deaths.
(The number of income-eligible infants is multiplied by 0.98441.5 An ad-
justment is then made for the percentage of women who breastEeed and the
duration of breastEeeding. The adjustment rate used to obtain the number
of women who do not breastEeed and are less than 6 months postpartum is
0.374 (37.4 percent). The adjustment rate is 0.171 (17.1 percent) for the
number who breastEeed and are less than 12 months postpartum. These
adjustment factors are based on data from the 1988 National Maternal and
Infant Health Survey (NMIHS) and were derived using life table methods
that controlled for the age and income of mothers.
To estimate adjunctive eligibility for each of the categories, the USDA
method makes a modest adjustment for infants and children who may be
eligible for WIC because they are adjunctively eligible through participa-
tion in the Medicaid, Food Stamp, or TANF programs.6 The method adds
14,000 infants and 76,000 children to the core estimates of the number of
income-eligible infants and children. No adjustment is made for pregnant
or postpartum women who may be adjunctively eligible.
Once the estimates of income-eligible people for each eligibility cat-
egory are made, the USDA method adjusts for the percentage of people in
each category who are at nutritional risk. The result is the number of fully
eligible people. These adjustment factors are: 95 percent for infants, 75.2
percent for children, 91.3 percent for pregnant women, 93.3 percent for
nonbreastEeeding postpartum women, and 88.9 percent of breastEeeding
postpartum women. The nutritional risk adjustment factors used are based
on estimates of the percentages of income-eligible people in each category
who are at nutritional risk. All but one of these adjustment factors were
obtained from the first WIC Eligibility Study (U.S. Department of Agri-
culture, 19871. The infant adjustment factor was increased from 72 to 95
percent in 1991 on the basis of more recent independent estimates of nutri-
tional risk among infants, which showed that 95 percent of infants met a
. . . . . . .
nutritional risk criterion.
5This adjustment is based on data from the second WIC Eligibility Study (called WES
II).
6This accounts for only 0.9 percent of all estimated eligible infants and 1.1 percent of
all estimated eligible children in 1998.
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32 ESTIMATING ELIGIBILII~YANDPARTICIPATIONFOR THE WICPROGRAM
Estimation of Full-Funding Participation
Not all of those who are eligible for WIC will participate in the pro-
gram. Once the estimates of the numbers of fully eligible people in each
category are made, the numbers are adjusted downward to account for this.
Past practice in making this adjustment has assumed that participation rates
for WIC will mirror participation rates for the Food Stamp Program for
children ages 0 through 4 years. Until recently, the food stamp participa-
tion rates from the late 1980s were used to adjust the eligibility estimates,
meaning that roughly 80 percent of eligible people were estimated to par-
ticipate. Beginning with the 1995 estimates, USDA has not used the food
stamp participation rate assumption, but rather has made budget requests
with a goal of serving 7.5 million participants. To assess the reasonableness
of this approach, the panel, in Chapter 8, estimates post-hoc participation
rates for the WIC program but does not try to model participation deci-
sions.
Forecasting WIC Eligibility and Participation
WIC eligibility and participation estimates based on a given year's sur-
vey data are used to forecast eligibility for the budget for a future fiscal year.
The length of time between the gathering of these survey data and the
period for which the budget is being developed the forecasting period-
can span as many as four years. For example, development of the budget for
FY 2003 began in spring 2001. At that time, the latest March CPS data
available were derived from the March 2000 CPS. This survey collects in-
come data for the previous calendar year, which was 1999. Thus, 1999 data
are used to inform the budgetary request for FY 2003. The estimates of
eligibility and participation are used to inform the president's budget, which
is submitted to Congress in the fall or winter. March CPS data are typically
released in the fall of the year of the survey. Thus, it is possible that by the
time the president's FY 2003 budget was finalized, the March 2001 CPS
data may have become available and used to update the estimates made
with the 2000 data. But even then, these data would be used to predict
eligibility and participation three years in advance. Current methods for
estimating eligibility and participation for WIC do not make adjustments
for changes in the population or economy that might cause errors in these
forecasts. This is equivalent to assuming no change in any of these factors.
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OVERVIEW OF WIC AND THE CURRENTESTIMATIONMETHODOLOGY 33
SUMMARY
Each year USDA develops estimates of the number of people eligible
and likely to participate in the WIC program. These estimates are used to
inform budget requests and to evaluate the effectiveness of the program.
Current methods for making these estimates use the March CPS to esti-
mate the number of income-eligible infants and children. The estimates of
infants, along with several adjustment factors, are used to estimate the num-
ber of income-eligible pregnant and postpartum women. To get the num-
ber fully eligible in each category, adjustments for the prevalence of nutri-
tional risk among the income-eligible population are made. Finally, USDA
assumes that participation in WIC among those who are eligible is similar
to the participation rate for the food stamp program.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
postpartum women
