Effects of a randomized controlled trial of unconditional cash transfers on epigenetic measures of ageing and cognition in children and mothers

Here we present epigenetic findings from a randomized controlled trial studying the impact of unconditional cash gifts of US$333 per month (children n = 313; mothers n = 329) or US$20 per month (children n = 423; mothers n = 448) to US mothers with low income during their child's first four years of life. Salivary DunedinPACE-pace of aging, a DNA-methylation predictor of healthy lifespan, and Epigenetic-g, a DNA-methylation biomarker of cognition, were preregistered as secondary outcomes (clinical trial identifier NCT03593356 ). As hypothesized, high-cash compared with low-cash gifts caused a -0.17 s.d. (95% confidence interval -0.32 to -0.01, P = 0.037) difference in children's DunedinPACE. We found no evidence supporting our hypothesis that higher cash gifts increased children's Epigenetic-g, although it did correlate with children's brain activity. There was no evidence that the cash gift had an impact on these epigenetic indices in mothers. These findings show a detectable impact of monthly unconditional cash received through early childhood on epigenetic indices of 4-year-old children in families with low income. Whether this epigenetic effect persists and how it may relate to behavioural and health outcomes remains unknown.