The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families

Anna Aizer; Shari Eli; Joseph P. Ferrie; Adriana Lleras-Muney

doi:10.1257/aer.20140529

American Economic Review Vol. 106 No. 4 2016

The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families

Anna Aizer¹; Shari Eli²; Joseph P. Ferrie³; Adriana Lleras-Muney⁴

¹ Department of Economics, Brown University, 64 Waterman Street, Providence, RI 02912, and NBER (e-mail: ) · ² Department of Economics, University of Toronto, 150 St. George Street, Toronto, ON M5S 3G7, Canada, and NBER () · ³ Department of Economics, Northwestern University, 2001 Sheridan Road, Evanston, IL 60208, and NBER (e-mail: ) · ⁴ Department of Economics, University of California, Los Angeles, 9373 Bunche Hall, Los Angeles, CA 90095, and NBER (e-mail: )

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 United States (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. They also obtained one-third more years of schooling, were less likely to be underweight, and had higher income in adulthood than children of rejected mothers.

DOI: 10.1257/aer.20140529
Volume: 106
Issue: 4
Pages: 935-971
Language: en
Sources: openalex bibtex:phds-export.bib crossref

The Long-Run Impact of Cash Transfers to Poor Families

Abstract

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