Impact of Cash Transfer in Childhood on Adult Outcomes

• In Event: The Relevance of Typical and At-Risk Development for Adult Outcomes

Abstract

During an ongoing longitudinal cohort study, a casino opening created a natural cash transfer experiment: Some participating families received income supplements, and others did not. The children in this study are now adults. The goal of this analysis was to assess the long-term impact of family income supplements received in childhood on mental health, substance use, and functional outcomes when participants are adults.

Analyses were based on a prospective, population-based study of 1,420 children ages 9, 11, or 13 at intake in 1993. Twenty-five percent (N=349) are American Indians. In 1996, an American Indian tribe implemented a cash transfer program of ~$5,000 annually per person for tribal members. Participants were compared on whether their family ever received the cash transfers (American Indian compared to non-American Indian), the duration of the transfers, and annual amount based upon the number of parents. Participants were followed up at ages 25 and 30 (1266 of 1381 living participants, 91.7%; 2012 to 2016) to assess mental health functioning, substance use, and functional outcomes (physical health, risky/illegal behaviors, financial, social functioning).

Participants whose families received cash transfers during childhood reported fewer anxiety symptoms (relative risk ([RR[), = 0.33; 95% CI, 0.25-0.44), depressive symptoms (RR, = 0.51,; 95% CI, 0.42-0.62), and cannabis symptoms (RR, = 0.47; 3 95% CI, 0.27-0.82). They also reported improved physical health (RR, = 0.66; 95% CI, 0.55-0.80) and financial functioning (RR, = 0.78; 95% CI, 0.67-0.89), and fewer risky/ or illegal behaviors (RR, = 0.57; 95% CI, 0.46- 0.72) compared to with those who did not receive the cash transfer. In the case of anxiety and depressive symptoms, the absolute effect of the cash transfer was double the size of that of socioeconomic status (which was statistically significant at p <0.01 in both cases). These patterns were supported by series of heterogeneity analyses in which children whose families received the transfers for the longest duration and who received the largest transfer (due to having multiple American Indian parents) had the lowest levels of symptoms and the highest levels of functioning.

In this natural experiment, a family cash transfer in childhood was associated with positive adult functioning 20 years later. The findings support programs like the child tax credit or universal basic income that provide cash directly to families with children.

Authors

• William Copeland, University of Vermont
  Presenting Author

• Guangyu Tong, Yale University

• Lauren Gaydosh

• Sherika Nichole Hill, Duke Univeristy

• Jennifer Godwin, Duke University

• Lilly Shanahan, University of Zurich

• Elizabeth Jane Costello