Should every eligible parent participate in WIC?

No

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by Lisa H Warren

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The WIC (Women, Infants, and Children) Program is a fine program, aimed at some women and children under five years of age, considered to be "at nutritional risk". Pregnant women and nursing/postpartum women have specific nutritional needs, as do babies and young children.
With "nutritional risk" one eligibility requirement of the program, the USDA's Food and Nutrition Service uses two criteria for "nutritional risk". Medically-based risks (such as anemia) are one of two different criteria for eligibility. Poor dietary habits are also considered a medically-based risk.

Low income is the other requirement for eligibility. Because low income can contribute to a poor diet, the WIC program is aimed at low-income people. The program provides for foods rich in specific nutrients, which are protein, calcium, iron, and vitamins A and C.

The program also provides one brand of baby formula for participants. State agencies receive a rebate from the manufacturer of the formula, which means that state agencies can offer the formula at the lowest cost to the program.

Being eligible for the WIC program, however, doesn't necessarily mean an individual should participate. There are low-income individuals who prefer to keep assistance programs (and all that is associated with them) out of their lives. Having a low income does not necessarily mean a person will not or cannot provide high-quality food to children. Examples of the WIC program's eligibility requirements for one individual and a family of two, based on the chart effective July 01, 2007 through June 30, 2008 are:

One individual:
Annual income of $18,889

Family of two:
Annual income of $25,327

Effective July 01, 2008, the maximum annual income requirements will be $19,240 and $25,900, respectively.

One individual, who has a solid understanding of good nutrition and wise shopping habits, would not necessarily have difficulty eating well on $18,889 a year. The same applies to a family of two (most likely, one mother and one young child), with an income of $25,327. While it is certainly true that paying for baby formula can be a strain, a young mother who prefers to provide for her own baby may prefer to use what money she has to buy her baby's formula and do without other things not related to food.

Foods such as iron-rich cereal (for babies, older children, or adults), peanut butter, cheese, eggs, tuna, milk, and fruits high in Vitamin C are generally among the least costly foods on a grocery list. Mothers of modest means (but a solid understanding of nutrition) often rely on such foods as a source of protein, iron, and Vitamin C, whether or not they participate in the WIC program. Capable, normal, mothers will make sure their babies or children get solid nutrition. If they can find a way to provide that good nutrition without participating in the WIC program that should be their prerogative.

Not every low income individual wants to involve herself with state-agency-run programs. Such programs often seem to assume that participation means "needing guidance" - not just needing financial assistance. Some low-income individuals find that one thing that helps them feel "like everyone else" is shopping at their own grocery store with their own bank card, the way everyone else does. There are people who are philosophically opposed to one assistance program or another, and there are those who worry that getting involved with such a program may mean allowing the government into one's life more than she prefers.

I once knew a woman who had eleven children. Her husband had a good job, but she was eligible for WIC. She would get the WIC food and then pass it around to friends because she said she could not possibly use all the eggs and cheese she got. Teenage mothers in foster care are given WIC food, and I've known some of them to give away "all that extra cheese" as well. Then there are low-income mothers who live with their own mothers and fathers but who can still receive WIC food. Because the WIC program has participants like these, there can be other women who find the program objectionable, wasteful, or even misguided in some ways.

While one advantage of the program is that it does make less educated women aware of which foods contain the right kind of nutrition for them and their children, women of low incomes but more education may have no interest in such "guidance" or regulations.

While there are many low-income individuals who rely on the food provided by the WIC program, there are also those people who prefer to provide for their own and their child/ren's nutritional needs themselves. Having a low income does not necessarily have to mean being unwilling or unable to eat the right types of foods. Neither does it always mean a woman doesn't know which foods to buy.

The world is full of people who were raised by parents of modest means who managed to provide excellent nutrition to their children. The US has plenty of people, too, who do not want government programs (or the government that sponsors them) in their lives. If a low-income woman can find a way to feed her child/ren well without participating in the WIC program, that's her choice.

Not everyone wants or needs to avail himself of the WIC program, but it is a rare parent who would allow his child/ren to go without solid nutrition if he could not provide that without assistance. The WIC program provides valuable assistance to parents who need it, but eligibility, alone, does not always mean a parent needs that type of assistance.

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