Overview

This study investigates the correlation between geographic accessibility to WIC-approved vendors and the administrative burden experienced by participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). This research constructs measures of WIC vendor accessibility, including the proportion of vendors per 10,000 residents and their share among food and retail stores, and quantifies the relationship between vendor accessibility and redemption costs. Using a representative survey of 2,588 WIC participants and web-scraped data on vendors, the findings reveal that greater accessibility, particularly to WIC vendor chains, is associated with significantly lower administrative burden. By integrating survey and geospatial data, this study highlights actionable insights to improve program access and equity.

Approach

• Survey respondents who cited a lack of nearby WIC stores or insufficient stock of eligible items in local stores reported significantly higher levels of administrative burden compared to those who did not (2.24 vs. 1.98 and 2.20 vs. 1.95, both p<0.01).

• Measures of WIC vendor accessibility—the proportion of WIC vendors among all food and retail stores or WIC vendors per 10,000 residents at the county level—are highly correlated (r=0.91).
  

• Improved WIC vendor accessibility, especially through WIC vendor chains, is consistently associated with reduced administrative burden across ZIP codes, counties, and commuting zones.