Description

For sample adults and sample children 0-17 living in families with females 12-55 years of age or children 0-5 years of age, GOTWIC indicates if at any time in the last 12 months, any family members living in the household receive benefits from the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program. Prior to 2019, GOTWIC was asked for persons in families with a WIC eligible member, and, in 1999 and 2000, for persons age 5 or less and females age 12 to 55.

The 2019 Field Representatives manual defines the WIC program as follows:

Comparability

For 1999 and 2000, this question was asked of WIC-eligible persons (those age 5 or less and females age 12 to 55) who were interviewed in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th quarters of the survey. For 2001-2018, this question was asked of all persons in families with a WIC eligible member. Beginning in 2019, this question was asked of sample adults and sample children 0-17 living in families with females 12-55 years of age or children 0-5 years of age.

Changes in collection times affect raw frequencies but do not affect comparability across samples. As always, data users should use prescribed weights. Other than changes in sample collection and universe, there are no comparability issues with this variable for samples prior to 2019.

In 2019, the NHIS questionnaire was substantially redesigned to introduce a different data collection structure and new content. For more information on changes in terminology, universes, and data collection methods beginning in 2019, please see the user note.

Universe

Availability

• 1999-2023

Weights

• 1999-2018 : PERWEIGHT
• 2019-2023 : SAMPWEIGHT