Rita Hamad, Professor of Social Epidemiology and Public Policy, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Abstract: Unemployment rates soared at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic in the US, increasing financial stress that can affect physical and mental health. Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) is a key cash assistance program for low-income families in the US, with benefits conditional on work activities and subject to suspension. However, many states loosened requirements during the pandemic. This quasi-experimental study examined whether pandemic-era TANF policy changes were associated with breastfeeding behaviors using 2017–2020 national data from the Pregnancy Risk Assessment Monitoring System and a difference‑in‑differences design. Findings suggest that antipoverty cash assistance policies can support improved maternal and child health behaviors, including breastfeeding.
Dr. Rita Hamad is a social epidemiologist and the Director of the Harvard Center for Population and Development Studies and the Social Policies for Health Equity Research (SPHERE) Center at the Harvard School of Public Health. Her research focuses on the pathways linking social factors like poverty and education with racial and socioeconomic disparities in health across the life course. In particular, she studies the health effects of social and economic policies using interdisciplinary quasi-experimental methods to generate actionable evidence to inform policymaking. She serves as an Advisory Editor for the journal Social Science & Medicine and an Associate Editor at Health Affairs Scholar. In 2020-2022, she was the James C. Puffer American Board of Family Medicine / National Academy of Medicine Fellow. She provides consultation to state and federal legislators on the design of poverty alleviation and social safety net policies. Dr. Hamad mentors trainees at all levels in population health and health equity research, and lectures about the effects of social policies on health inequities. She saw patients as a family physician for 10 years in safety net clinics throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, although she is no longer a practicing doctor.
LOCATION:Malkin Penthouse STATUS:CONFIRMED DTSTART:20260302T170000Z DTEND:20260302T181500Z END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR