Evaluating the effects of a targeted home visiting program on maternal and child health outcomes

We evaluate the effects of home visiting targeted towards disadvantaged first-time mothers on maternal and child health outcomes. Our analysis exploits a randomized controlled trial and combines rich longitudinal survey data with unique administrative health data. In a context in which the target group has comprehensive health care access, we find no effects of home visiting on most types of health utilization, health behaviors, and physical health measures. However, the intervention has a positive effect on some maternal mental health outcomes, reducing depression reported in the survey data by eleven percentage points and prescription of psycholeptics recorded in the administrative data by seven percentage points.