Quasi-experimental analysis reveals Rx Kids program significantly reduces parenting stress among eligible Flint mothers postpartum, indicating positive community effects.
This study examined whether the Rx Kids program, launched in Flint, Michigan, in January 2024 as the US’s first community-wide unconditional cash transfer program for expectant mothers and infants, was associated with differences in parenting stress postpartum. Using structural equation modeling in a sample of N = 954 mothers (mean age: 28.9 years; race/ethnicity: 37% Black, 52% White, 11% other), Flint mothers who were eligible to participate in Rx Kids (newborns born in 2024) reported lower parenting stress (0.36 of a standard deviation lower) than non-eligible Flint mothers (newborns born in 2023). This birth-timing difference (2024 vs. 2023) was not observed among non-Flint mothers from the surrounding area, providing quasi-experimental evidence that Rx Kids may reduce parenting stress postpartum.
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Finegood et al. (2025) studied this question.
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