How does unconditional income for families in poverty affect parental investments for their young children? Mothers in four U.S. metropolitan areas were randomized to receive a monthly unconditional cash transfer of either $333/month (high) or $20/month (low) for the first several years after child birth. During the first three years, high-cash gift households spent more money on child-specific goods and more time on child-specific early learning activities than the low-cash gift group. No changes were evident in other household expenditures, although the high-cash gift group had lower levels of public benefit receipt. Compared with the low-cash gift group, fewer high-cash gift families were residing in poverty, although mean income and wealth remain low for the majority of families by year 3. No differences were evident in mothers’ participation in paid work, children’s time in child care, or subjective well-being.

Dr. Gennetian is an applied economist whose research straddles a variety of areas concerning child poverty from income security and stability to early care and education with a particular lens toward identifying causal mechanisms underlying how child poverty shapes children’s development. She is a co-PI on the first multi-site multi-year randomized control study of a monthly unconditional cash transfer to low income mothers of infants in the U.S. called Baby’s First Years. Her recent work bridges poverty scholarship with a behavioral economic framework.  “The Persistence of Poverty in the Context of Economic Instability: A Behavioral Perspective,” describes such a framework for poverty programs and policy, co-authored with Dr. Eldar Shafir and her co-authored publication “Behavioral Economics and Developmental Science,” further advances the application of behavioral economic insights to the arena of children’s development. Professor Gennetian has since launched the beELL initiative; applying insights from behavioral economics to design strategies to support parent and family engagement in, and enhance the impacts of, existing childhood interventions. Dr. Gennetian also has a body of research examining poverty among Hispanic children and families, serving as a PI on several grants and a co-PI directing work on poverty and economic self-sufficiency at the National Center for Research on Hispanic Families.