Working Paper: NBER ID: w20103
Authors: Anna Aizer; Shari Eli; Joseph Ferrie; Adriana Lleras-Muney
Abstract: We estimate the long-run impact of cash transfers to poor families on children's longevity, educational attainment, nutritional status, and income in adulthood. To do so, we collected individual-level administrative records of applicants to the Mothers' Pension program--the first government-sponsored welfare program in the US (1911-1935) --and matched them to census, WWII and death records. Male children of accepted applicants lived one year longer than those of rejected mothers. Male children of accepted mothers received one-third more years of schooling, were less likely to be underweight, and had higher income in adulthood than children of rejected mothers.
Keywords: cash transfers; poverty; longevity; educational attainment; nutritional status; income
JEL Codes: I12; I38; N32
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| cash transfers from the mothers pension program (H55) | longevity of male children (J17) |
| cash transfers from the mothers pension program (H55) | educational attainment of male children (I24) |
| cash transfers from the mothers pension program (H55) | nutritional status of male children (I32) |
| cash transfers from the mothers pension program (H55) | income of male children in adulthood (J31) |