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Parental investment across neighborhood contexts: Evidence from a randomized controlled trial of poverty reduction

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This study investigated how low-income parents with infants and toddlers make differing caregiving investments depending on neighborhood conditions. It leverages a randomized controlled trial in which 1,000 low-income mothers and newborns (Mage = 27; 42% Black; 41% Hispanic; 10% White; 2018-2022) received unconditional cash transfers of $333 or $20 per month. Mothers' addresses were linked with census tract-based measures of "opportunity" for economic mobility. Parents in -lower-opportunity neighborhoods who received larger cash transfers engaged their child in more enriching activities and purchased more child-focused goods than parents who received the cash transfers in higher-opportunity neighborhoods (effect sizes of .12 and .09 more as opportunity decreased by 1 SD). These results suggest that parents compensate for challenging neighborhood conditions with increased caregiving investments.

Source: Child Development

DOI: 10.1093/chidev/aacaf038

Authors: Paul Y Yoo, Greg J Duncan, Katherine A Magnuson, Nathan A Fox, Lisa A Gennetian, Kimberly G Noble, Hirokazu Yoshikawa

Institutions: Stanford University, University of California, Irvine, University of Wisconsin–Madison, University of Maryland, College Park, Duke University, Columbia University, New York University

Language: English

Topic: Poverty, Education, and Child Welfare

Subfield: Safety Research

Field: Social Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Reduced inequalities, No poverty, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Perigee Fund, Ford Foundation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, U.S. Department of Education, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Annie E. Casey Foundation, Esther A. and Joseph Klingenstein Fund, Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation, Weitz Family Foundation: Feed the Body, Feed the Mind, Feed the Spirit, Stanford University, Robin Hood Foundation, JPB Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, National Academy of Education, Heising-Simons Foundation, Holland Foundation, Arnold Ventures, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Sherwood Foundation, Valhalla Foundation, Jacobs Foundation, National Institutes of Health, Administration for Children and Families, Institute of Education Sciences, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation, Bezos Family Foundation, Greater New Orleans Foundation

Awards: G5063733067, G9000182763

OpenAlex ID: W7126044518

FWCI:

Cites: 53

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