For many, the logic seemed unassailable: Giving poor families money would measurably improve the lives of their children. And so a few years ago, social scientists set out to test whether that assumption was right.The results of the experiment have shocked them.

Guest: Jason DeParle, a Times reporter who covers poverty in the United States.Background reading: 

• A rigorous experiment appears to show that monthly checks intended to help disadvantaged children did little for their well-being.

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