Guaranteeing income
How extra money affects families across different levels of income also interests researchers and policymakers.
“One of the policy debates in Washington is to what degree should it be to everyone,” Ajay Chaudry, PhD, a research scholar at New York University who is advising the Bridge Project, said.
Guaranteed income programs may need to be available to most of the population out of political necessity, even if the benefits turn out to be the most pronounced at lower income levels, added Dr. Chaudry, who served in the Obama administration as deputy assistant secretary for human services policy.
If giving moms money affects babies’ brains, Dr. Dreyer pointed to two pathways that could explain the link: more resources and less family stress.
Money helps families buy toys and books, which in turn could support a child’s cognitive development. Meanwhile, low-income mothers and fathers may experience worries about eviction, adequate food, and the loss of heat and electricity, which could detract from their ability to parent.
Of course, many ways to support a child’s development do not require money. Engaging with children in a warm and nurturing way, having conversations with them, and reading with them are all important.
If the pattern in the PNAS study holds, individual experiences and outcomes will still vary, Dr. Noble said. Many children in the group that received the smaller gift had fast-paced brain activity, whereas some babies in the group that received the larger gift showed slower brain activity. Knowing family income would not allow you to accurately predict anything about an individual child’s brain, Dr. Noble said.
“I certainly wouldn’t want the message to be that money is the only thing that matters,” Dr. Noble said. “Money is something that can be easily manipulated by policy, which is why I think this is important.”
For the 18-year-old new mom Ms. Matos, accepting assistance “makes me feel less of myself. But honestly, I feel like mothers shouldn’t be afraid to ask for help or reach out for help or apply to programs like these.”
The sources reported a variety of funders, including federal agencies and foundations and donors.
A version of this article first appeared on Medscape.com.