Study Details | Pathways to Work

101048-Study of Baby's Firs

Study quality: High

High

Reason for the rating: This study received a high study quality rating because it is a low-attrition randomized controlled trial with no known issues that suggest the findings cannot be attributed to the intervention.

Intervention: Baby's First Years Unconditional Cash Transfer

Population and employment barriers:

Parenting (Parents), Public Benefits Recipients (Public benefits recipients)

Services provided:

Unconditional cash transfers

Setting: Urban only

Study design

Design:

Randomized controlled trial

Study group formation:

This study includes low-income mothers who gave birth in twelve hospitals across New Orleans, New York City, the Omaha Metropolitan area, and the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul between May 2018 and June 2019. Participants were required to have household incomes below the federal poverty line and reside in the state of recruitment. Mothers were randomly assigned to a high-cash gift intervention group (n=400) or a low-cash gift comparison group (n=600) shortly after childbirth.

Time period of study:

The unconditional monthly transfer initially was designed to last for 40 months. It then was extended to 76 months. The data for the study were collected over three annual surveys at the children's first, second, and third birthdays.

Primary outcome domains examined:

Increase short-term employment, Increase long-term employment, Increase long-term earnings, Decrease short-term benefit receipt, Decrease long-term benefit receipt, Increase education and training

Other outcome domains examined:

Household poverty status; Savings and other assets, Debt; Maternal time use in employment and education, Child time spent in child care, Maternal time spent with child on early learning tasks and activities; General household expenditures (by type), Child-specific expenditures (by type), Purchases of infact durable good since birth; Maternal subjective well-being; Breastfeedng (intentions), Child car, employment intentions.

Study funded by:

The study and program funding are the same.

Results

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Outcome domain	Measure	Timing	Study quality by finding	Comparison group mean	Intervention group mean	Impact	Units	Sample size
Increase short-term earnings	Average earned income per month, Age 1	12 months	High			15.77	2020 dollars	911
Increase long-term earnings	Annual earnings	36 months	High	11,389.80	10,427.90	-961.90	2022 dollars	911
Increase short-term employment	Currently employed	12 months	High	45.00	41.00	-4.00	percentage points	931
Increase long-term employment	Currently employed	36 months	High	50.00	51.00	1.00	percentage points	922
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Housing assistance	12 months	High			-7.70	percentage points	931
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	LIHEAP	12 months	High			-2.30	percentage points	931
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Medicaid	12 months	High			-4.70	percentage points	931
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Received any public assistance benefits, annual	12 months	High			-1.80	percentage points	931
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Received food stamps/SNAP, annual	12 months	High			-2.40	percentage points	931
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	Received UI payments, annual	12 months	High			3.70	percentage points	931
Decrease short-term benefit receipt	WIC	12 months	High			0.40	percentage points	931
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Housing assistance	36 months	High			-4.90	percentage points	922
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	LIHEAP	24 months	High			-5.00	percentage points	922
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Medicaid	36 months	High			-7.20	percentage points	922
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Received any public assistance benefits, annual	36 months	High			-3.60	percentage points	922
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Received food stamps/SNAP, annual	36 months	High			-4.60	percentage points	922
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	Received UI payments, annual	36 months	High			-1.40	percentage points	922
Decrease long-term benefit receipt	WIC	36 months	High			-3.80	percentage points	922
Increase education and training	Completed educational degree or certificate (last 12 months)	36 months	High			2.60	percentage points	922

Short-term outcomes are those measured 18 months or fewer after participants are first offered services. Long-term outcomes are those measured between 18 months and 5 years after participants are first offered services. Very long-term outcomes are those measured 5 years or more after participants are first offered services.

Findings quality key:

High
Moderate

Study quality terms?

The findings quality describe our confidence that a given study’s finding is because of the intervention. We do not display findings that rate low.

Findings key:

A moderate-to-large favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large favorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small favorable finding that might be due to chance
A favorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A favorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A moderate-to-large unfavorable finding that might to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance
A small unfavorable finding that might be due to chance
An unfavorable finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
An unfavorable finding that might be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size
A finding that is unlikely to be due to chance, but we cannot determine the standardized effect size or direction
A finding of no effect that might be due to chance

Favorable findings are impacts in a direction that is socially desirable. Statistical significance indicates the likelihood that a study finding is due to the intervention, rather than due to chance. Findings are described as moderate-to-large if the intervention produced a sufficiently large change in the outcome. An impact receives this designation if the standardized effect size is equal to or greater than 0.25 or equal to or less than -0.25.

Sample characteristics

All participants were mothers with 42% identified as Hispanic, 39% as Black, 11% white, non-Hispanic and 7% multiple races/other. Mothers were 27 years on average at the time of their child’s birth. Over 95% of mothers reported receiving some type of government benefit.

Age

Mean age

27 years

Sex

Female

100%

Participant race and ethnicity

Black or African American	41%
White, not Hispanic	10%
Hispanic or Latino of any race	41%
Another race	4%
More than one race	4%

The race and ethnicity categories may sum to more than 100 percent if the authors reported race and ethnicity separately; in these cases, we report the category White, rather than White, not Hispanic.

Family status

Parents	100%
Single parents	45%

Participant employment and public benefit status

Public benefits recipients

95%

Intervention implementation

Implementing organization:

Charitable non-profit organizations delivered the cash transfer.

Program history:

This specific unconditional cash transfer was not in existence prior to the start of the study.

Intervention services:

In Baby’s First Years (BFY) study, low income mothers randomized to the “high-cash gift group” received a cash gift of $333 per month ($3,996/year) initially for 40 months, and subsequently for a duration of 76 months of the baby’s life. There were no restrictions regarding how the cash gift could be used. Mothers were given a debit card in the hospital, and the cash gift was loaded monthly on the same day as the child’s birth along with a text message. Mothers also had access to a hotline number for assistance with BFY card use.

Mandatory services:

None

Comparison services:

Low income mothers randomized to the “low-cash gift group” received an unconditional cash gift of $20 per month ($240/year) for the same duration and using the same distribution processes as the “high-cash gift group.”

Service receipt duration:

76 months

Intervention funding:

NIH: R01HD087384; US Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation; Andrew and Julie Klingenstein Family Fund; Annie E. Casey Foundation; Arrow Impact; BCBS of Louisiana Foundation; Bezos Family Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation; Bill Hammack and Janice Parmelee, Brady Education Fund; Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (Silicon Valley Community Foundation); Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Philanthropies; Child Welfare Fund; Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund; Ford Foundation; Greater New Orleans Foundation; Heising-Simons Foundation; Jacobs Foundation; JPB Foundation; J-PAL North America; New York City Mayor's Office for Economic Opportunity; Perigee Fund; Robert Wood Johnson Foundation; Sherwood Foundation; Valhalla Foundation; Weitz Family Foundation; W.K. Kellogg Foundation; and three anonymous donors.

Study publications

Gennetian, Lisa, Greg Duncan, Nathan A. Fox, Katherine Magnuson, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Kimberly G. Noble, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa (2022). Unconditional Cash and Family Investments in Infants: Evidence from a Large-Scale Cash Transfer Experiment in the U.S. NBER Working Paper 30379. Available at: https://doi.org/10.3386/w30379.

Gennetian, Lisa, Greg Duncan, Nathan Fox, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Katherine Magnuson, Kimberly G. Noble, Hirokazu Yoshikawa (2024). Effects of a Monthly Unconditional Cash Transfer Starting at Birth on Family Investments among US Families with Low Income [Supplementary Information]. Nature and Human Behavior 8: 1514-1529. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01915-7

Gennetian, Lisa, Greg Duncan, Nathan Fox, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Katherine Magnuson, Kimberly G. Noble, Hirokazu Yoshikawa (2024). Effects of a Monthly Unconditional Cash Transfer Starting at Birth on Family Investments among US Families with Low Income. Nature and Human Behavior 8: 1514-1529. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-024-01915-7

Noble, Kimberly G., Katherine Magnuson, Lisa A. Gennetian, Greg J. Duncan, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Nathan A. Fox, and Sarah Halpern-Meekin (2021). Baby's First Years: Design of a Randomized Controlled Trial of Poverty Reduction in the U.S., Pedatrics 148(4): Article e2020049702. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1542/peds.2020-049072

Sauval, Maria, Greg Duncan, Lisa Gennetian, Katherine Magnuson, Nathan Fox, Kimberly Noble, Hirokazu Yoshikawa (2022). Unconditional Cash Transfers and Maternal Employment: Evidence from the Baby's First Years Study. [Working Paper] Available at: https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.4297310

Stilwell, Laura, Maritza Morales-Gracia, Katherine Magnuson, Lisa A. Gennetian, Maria Sauval, Nathan A. Fox, Sarah Halpern-Meekin, Hirokazu Yoshikawa, Kimberly G. Noble (2024). Unconditional Cash and Breastfeeding, Child Care, and Maternal Employment among Families with Young Children Residing in Poverty, Social Services Review 98(2): 260-292. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1086/729364.

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The Pathways Clearinghouse refers to interventions by the names used in study reports or manuscripts. Some intervention names may use language that is not consistent with our style guide, preferences, or the terminology we use to describe populations.

Study of Baby's First Years Unconditional Cash Transfer