Cash grants do help children and families in poverty

By Kathryn Anne Edwards / Bloomberg Opinion

If their parents had extra cash, would it help poor children? The intuitive answer is yes; not only can any parent attest to the cost of raising children, researchers can also point to a variety of ways in which poverty leaves a mark. But lately a flurry of news and commentary has been saying that, actually, the answer is no: Cash doesn’t make a difference.

The question is raised by an ongoing research study that has been sending cash every month to poor mothers since their child’s birth and found no measurable impact on child development after four years. It’s a convenient finding for conservative groups that have long opposed cash transfers that come without any strings attached. Their argument against sending money to families with children in poverty, they can say, is not about the character of the mom, or her work ethic, or her marital status. It’s just about the evidence.

Yet this conclusion exhibits two logical flaws. One is a failure to understand the study, the other a failure to understand policy.

The study in question, called “Baby’s First Years,” is not a policy evaluation but a research study. It’s a subtle but critical point. The research team didn’t set out to test how effective a cash policy is. It is using small infusions of cash as a way to understand how poverty affects children. A policy evaluation aims to recommend the best, tested design. A research study aims to test and answer a question; in this case, how early exposure to poverty affects brain development and function in children.

https://www.heraldnet.com/opinion/comment-cash-grants-do-help-children-and-families-in-poverty/