Cash increases possibility.
Research provides the foundation.
Our goal is to learn from participants’ experiences and better understand both the potential and the limitations of unconditional cash transfers.
The comprehensiveness of this study allowed us to gather data on unconditional cash to more rigorously measure and understand its impact.
How would you spend an extra $1,000 a month?
Slide the interactive bars to put $1,000 in context. You can also select your state in the right-hand column and see average spending for each of these categories.
Parenting and Children
Parenting and Children
Parents improved their parenting practices and made meaningful investments in their children and themselves.
Those changes did not translate into measurable improvements in children’s academic or parent-reported behavioral outcomes in the short run but could lay the groundwork for longer-term gains.
Participant Perspectives
"My relationship with my children is the most important thing to me in life…I've been doing more activities with my kids, like sports at school. I'm always at their school now. I'm just doing more stuff with them...as opposed to me working 12-hour shifts."
Parental Presence
Buying Back Time
Qualitative analysis identifies mechanisms through which the cash enabled parents to be present with their children.
Improvements in
Parenting
Parents reported improved supervision and discipline. Effects are largest for families with household incomes below the federal poverty level and single parents.
Health
Health
Cash increases some utilization; no measurable effects on physical health.
The cash transfers increased recipients’ use of hospital and emergency department care and some types of office-based medical care—particularly dental and specialist care. Although we find no significant effects on measures of physical health, the increased utilization of medical care may lead to long-term health benefits.
Participant Perspectives
"I got myself braces...I feel like people underestimate the importance of having nice teeth because it affects more than just your own sense of self, it affects how people look at you."
For recipients, the cash increased the probability of receiving any dental care in the past year by over 10% compared to the average control participant.
Increase health spending
$20
Recipients significantly increased their spending on medical care by roughly $20 per month, not including health insurance premiums.
Decrease in problematic drinking
20%
Recipients reported a 20% decrease in drinking that interfered with responsibilities relative to the average control participant.
Agency
Agency
Cash increases agency to think about, plan, and pursue goals.
The cash had a positive and significant effect on budgeting and planning for the future, desire to pursue further education, and entrepreneurial interest. Recipients set goals that aligned with their values and desires and many took steps toward achieving them.
Participant Perspectives
"[The program] was more about independence than anything. The empowerment of being able to not say ‘Uh mom, I need you to help me with my phone bill’…it was just not having to ask for help."
Compared to control participants, recipients were 14% more likely to report having pursued education or job training during the final year of the program.
On average, recipients were 5% more likely to have a budget than control participants.
In year three, Black recipients were 26% more likely to report ever starting or helping to start a business compared to Black control participants.
Politics
Politics
The impact of the cash transfer on political attitudes and behaviors was limited, with a few exceptions.
There were no effects on political participation and preferences, though there is evidence that recipients saw work as more important for individuals, society, or even as a requirement for accessing government programs.
Participant Perspectives
"[People] should just be able to exist. You know, get up, eat their food, and go to a job that, you know, makes them feel, you know, respected, and dignified and that they're doing good for the work."
Belief in the value of work
The impact of cash on attitudes towards work
Evidence suggests that recipients are not working fewer hours on average because they value work less, but because the cash gave them greater agency to make employment choices that better fit their goals and families' needs.
Employment
Employment
Cash provides flexibility to make employment decisions that align with individuals' circumstances, goals, and values.
Employment rates and work hours rose substantially over the course of the study for both recipients and control participants, but the average increases for control participants were larger. Though the cash transfers led to modest decreases in employment, work hours, and income overall, the employment effects varied across participants.
Participant Perspectives
"Because of that money and being able to build up my savings, I’m in a position for once to be picky…I don't have to take a crappy job just because I need income right now. I have the opportunity to hold out and try and find the right fit."
Fewer work hours per week
1.3 hours
On average, recipients worked 1.3 fewer hours per week and were 2 percentage points less likely to be employed. The difference in the number of months employed is equivalent to working roughly 8 fewer days per year.
Recipients were more 10% more likely to be actively searching for a job and 9% more likely to have applied for a job relative to control participants, though they applied to fewer jobs. Recipients were more likely to select interesting or meaningful work as an essential condition for any job.
Decrease in household income
5%
Not including the transfer, the cash led to a $2,500- $4,100 decrease in total household income—an amount equivalent to roughly 5% of control participants' average household income. Including the transfer amounts, average household income was roughly $6,100 higher for recipients.
"We view this study as a foundation for a broad research agenda on how best to promote economic inclusivity both now and in the future. Our goal is to learn from participants’ experiences and better understand both the potential and the limitations of unconditional cash."
"The comprehensive use of both quantitative and qualitative analysis allows us to delve into the complexities of people's lives. We are able to capture their nuanced experiences with rich qualitative narratives and also explore the causal factors behind those experiences with our quantitative data. This holistic approach is what drew me to the project and what I believe is foundational to creating change."
"There are several factors that set this project apart from previous studies. The large sample size, the long duration, the amount of factors researched and the extremely high response rates. While one of these elements may exist in prior research, the combination of all of them in one study is a level of rigor we believe is unique in this space."
Timeline
Jan 2016
Study initially proposed
May 2016
Elizabeth Rhodes joins OpenResearch
Sep 2016 – Sep 2018
Feasibility Studies
Aug 2019 – Mar 2020
In-person enrollment and survey
Nov 2019
Monthly surveys and app activities begin.
Mar 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic
Enrollment efforts pause.
Apr 2020 – Oct 2020
Telephone enrollment and survey
Jul 2020 – Dec 2020
First round of qualitative interviews
Nov 2020
Three year unconditional cash transfer program begins.
May 2021 – Jul 2021
Second round of qualitative interviews
Nov 2021 – Feb 2022
Third round of qualitative interviews
Apr 2022 – Jul 2022
Enumerated midline survey
Sep 2022 – Feb 2023
Fourth round of qualitative interviews
Apr 2023 – Jul 2023
Enumerated endline survey
Aug 2023 – Jan 2024
Fifth round of qualitative interviews
Oct 2023
Monthly unconditional cash transfers end.
Oct 2023 – Feb 2024
Collection of health measures
Dec 2023
Monthly surveys end.
Jan 2024
Quarterly surveys begin
Aug 2024 – Dec 2024
Sixth round of qualitative interviews
Mar 2020
US Government passes CARES Act and provides first round of stimulus checks.
Sep 2020
CDC places a moratorium on mortgage foreclosure and tenant evictions.
Dec 2020
US Government passes second round of stimulus checks and COVID-19 relief bills.
Mar 2021
COVID-19 vaccines available to general public in Texas
Mar 2021
US Government passes the American Rescue Plan Act.
Apr 2021
COVID-19 vaccines available to general public in Illinois
Apr 2021
Additional SNAP benefits go into effect.
May 2021
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ends.
May 2021
Texas moratorium on evictions ends.
Sep 2021
Enhanced unemployment benefits end.
Dec 2021
Illinois moratorium on evictions ends.
Dec 2021
Expanded child tax credit ends.
Apr 2023
States are now allowed to terminate Medicaid coverage, a process that was previously halted by the CARES Act.
Jul 2023
Rent relief program ends in Texas.
Sep 2023
Several remaining American Rescue Plan Act Provisions expire.
Apr 2020
Unemployment rate reaches 14.8%, more than four times higher than it was in February 2020.
Jan 2021
Unemployment rate is 6.4% at the start of 2021.
Apr 2021
First significant spike in inflation is observed, from 2.6% in March to 4.2% in April.
Dec 2021
By the end of 2021, inflation has tripled since the start of the year, reaching 7.5%
Jan 2022
Due to soaring inflation, mortgage and interest rates begin their first of many increases.
Jan 2022
Unemployment rate falls below 5% by January 2022.
Jul 2022
Inflation reached 9.1% in June 2022, marking the highest rate in over forty years.
Jan 2023
By the end of the year, interest rates have increased four-fold, and mortgage rates have doubled.
Elizabeth Rhodes joins OpenResearch
May 2016
In-person enrollment and survey
Aug 2019
Monthly surveys and app activities begin.
Nov 2019
Enrollment efforts pause.
Mar 2020
COVID-19 Pandemic
US Government passes CARES Act and provides first round of stimulus checks.
Mar 2020
In-person enrollment and survey
Mar 2020
Telephone enrollment and survey
Apr 2020
Unemployment rate reaches 14.8%, more than four times higher than it was in February 2020.
Apr 2020
First round of qualitative interviews
Jul 2020
CDC places a moratorium on mortgage foreclosure and tenant evictions.
Sep 2020
Telephone enrollment and survey
Oct 2020
Three year unconditional cash transfer program begins.
Nov 2020
US Government passes second round of stimulus checks and COVID-19 relief bills.
Dec 2020
First round of qualitative interviews
Dec 2020
Unemployment rate is 6.4% at the start of 2021.
Jan 2021
COVID-19 vaccines available to general public in Texas
Mar 2021
US Government passes the American Rescue Plan Act.
Mar 2021
First significant spike in inflation is observed, from 2.6% in March to 4.2% in April.
Apr 2021
COVID-19 vaccines available to general public in Illinois
Apr 2021
Additional SNAP benefits go into effect.
Apr 2021
Second round of qualitative interviews
May 2021
Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) ends.
May 2021
Texas moratorium on evictions ends.
May 2021
Second round of qualitative interviews
Jul 2021
Enhanced unemployment benefits end.
Sep 2021
Third round of qualitative interviews
Nov 2021
Illinois moratorium on evictions ends.
Dec 2021
Expanded child tax credit ends.
Dec 2021
By the end of 2021, inflation has tripled since the start of the year, reaching 7.5%
Dec 2021
Due to soaring inflation, mortgage and interest rates begin their first of many increases.
Jan 2022
Unemployment rate falls below 5% by January 2022.
Jan 2022
Third round of qualitative interviews
Feb 2022
Enumerated midline survey
Apr 2022
Inflation reached 9.1% in June 2022, marking the highest rate in over forty years.
Jul 2022
Enumerated midline survey
Jul 2022
Fourth round of qualitative interviews
Sep 2022
By the end of the year, interest rates have increased four-fold, and mortgage rates have doubled.
Jan 2023
Fourth round of qualitative interviews
Feb 2023
Enumerated endline survey
Apr 2023
States are now allowed to terminate Medicaid coverage, a process that was previously halted by the CARES Act.
Apr 2023
Rent relief program ends in Texas.
Jul 2023
Enumerated endline survey
Jul 2023
Fifth round of qualitative interviews
Aug 2023
Several remaining American Rescue Plan Act Provisions expire.
Sep 2023
Monthly unconditional cash transfers end.
Oct 2023
Collection of health measures
Oct 2023
Fifth round of qualitative interviews
Jan 2024
Collection of health measures
Feb 2024
Sixth round of qualitative interviews
Aug 2024
Cash is one important piece of the puzzle. The impact may be limited without other resources like health care and child care.
The greatest impact on spending per month was on basic needs, specifically food, rent, and transportation.
Cash had an impact on planning to pursue further education, desire to plan for the future, and self-reported willingness to delay instant gratification for future benefit. We also find an effect on having a budget, planning for large expenses, and time spent on finances.