Baby's First Years

Recent advances in developmental neuroscience suggest that experiences early in life can have profound and enduring influences on the developing brain. Family economic resources shape the nature of many of these experiences, yet the extent to which they affect children's development is unknown. The project's team of neuroscientists, economists and developmental psychologists is seeking to fill important gaps in scientific knowledge about the role of economic resources in early development by evaluating the first U.S. randomized controlled trial to determine whether unconditional cash gift payments have a causal effect on the cognitive, socio-emotional and brain development of infants and toddlers in low-income U.S. families. Specifically, 1,000 mothers of infants with incomes below the federal poverty line from four diverse U.S. communities were recruited from post-partum wards and are receiving monthly cash gift payments by debit card for the first 76 months of the child's life. Parents in the experimental group and receiving $333 per month ($3,996 per year), whereas parents in the active comparator group are receiving a nominal monthly payment of $20. In order to understand the impacts of the added income on children's cognitive and behavioral development, the investigators are assessing treatment group differences at ages 4 (this lab assessment was postponed from age 3 to age 4 due to Covid-19), 6, and 8 in lab-administered measures of cognitive, language, and self-regulation development and maternal reports of socio-emotional development. A number of other maternal-reported child outcome measures were gathered at ages 1, 2 and 3. Brain circuitry may be sensitive to the effects of early experience even before early behavioral differences can be detected. In order to understand the impacts of added income on children's brain functioning at age 4, 6, and 8, the investigators will assess, during a lab visit, experimental/active comparator group differences in measu