Poverty Solutions papers on cash payments show lack of long-term impact | Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy
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Poverty Solutions papers on cash payments show lack of long-term impact

July 12, 2022 Vox
Stimulus check from the US Treasury

Two studies published by Poverty Solutions were cited in an article in Vox which stated that "cash transfers in the US, and those studies found the transfers did... very little."

The papers by Ford School professors Brian Jacob, Natasha Pilkauskas, and Luke Shaefer, PhD candidate  Katherine Richard, and Elizabeth Rhodes from Open Research, looked at two different rounds of $1,000 cash grants from the charity GiveDirectly, which distributed the money to American households in May 2020 and again in October that year. 

The article summarizes, "After surveying recipients, as well as a control group of non-recipients, the researchers found no differences between the two groups on any of the five outcomes they were interested in. The study covering the May 2020 payments did find some reduction in material hardship among very low-income households specifically, and some weak evidence that mental health improved. And in October, there weren’t even those silver linings — even in the subgroups, no significant effects were found."

Natasha Pilkauskas

Faculty Expert

Natasha Pilkauskas

Associate Professor of Public Policy
Pilkauskas is a social demographer who studies the social safety net, children's living arrangements, and economic insecurity. Pilkauskas' work considers how social policy might improve the developmental and life trajectories of children living in poverty.
Headshot of Brian Jacob

Faculty Expert

Brian A. Jacob

Walter H. Annenberg Professor of Education Policy; Professor of Public Policy, Economics, and Education
Jacob is co-director of the Youth Policy Lab. His primary fields of interest are labor economics, program evaluation, and the economics of education. Jacob's current research focuses on urban school reform, with a particular emphasis on standards and accountability initiatives.
Luke Shaefer

Faculty Expert

Luke Shaefer

Hermann and Amalie Kohn Professor of Social Justice and Social Policy; Director, Poverty Solutions; Professor of Social Work
Luke Shaefer serves as the inaugural director of Poverty Solutions, an interdisciplinary, presidential initiative at U-M that seeks to partner communities and policymakers to find new ways to prevent and alleviate poverty.