You might have heard recently that a years-long poverty study “found” that giving $333 monthly to kids with poor parents didn’t make a difference. But here's why that’s the wrong takeaway: The "Baby's First Years" study wasn't designed to test cash payments. It is multi-year, ongoing scientific research into how poverty affects child development. Researchers found "selective impacts on preschoolers' brain activity with possibly different impacts across brain frequency bands" — which roughly translates to "this is incredibly complicated and we're still figuring it out," not "money is useless." And yet this rigorous research got reduced to a talking point amid an ongoing policy debate on child tax credits and what it means to lift kids out of poverty.

You might have heard recently that a years-long poverty study “found” that giving $333 monthly to kids with poor parents didn’t make a difference. But here's why that’s the wrong takeaway: The "Baby's First Years" study wasn't designed to test cash payments. It is multi-year, ongoing scientific research into how poverty affects child development. Researchers found "selective impacts on preschoolers' brain activity with possibly different impacts across brain frequency bands" — which roughly translates to "this is incredibly complicated and we're still figuring it out," not "money is useless." And yet this rigorous research got reduced to a talking point amid an ongoing policy debate on child tax credits and what it means to lift kids out of poverty.

The Cash-for-Kids Study: Misread and Misrepresented

Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and co-host editor Robin Rauzi talk about the fundamentals of the U.S. economy and how to build a better future one problem and solution at a time. Our premise is that the United States has remarkable economy — and yet for tens of millions of Americans it is not performing up to its potential. It could be more open to aspiring workers, less hostile to change, safer for workers, less risky for retirees, and so on.✨ Support the podcast at: <a href="https://optimisteconomy.com/">optimisteconomy.com</a> ✨Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: <a href="mailto:optimist.economy@gmail.com">optimist.economy@gmail.com</a>

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Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and co-host editor Robin Rauzi talk about the fundamentals of the U.S. economy and how to build a better future one problem and solution at a time. Our premise is that the United States has remarkable economy — and yet for tens of millions of Americans it is not performing up to its potential. It could be more open to aspiring workers, less hostile to change, safer for workers, less risky for retirees, and so on. ✨ Support the podcast at: optimisteconomy.com ✨ Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: optimist.economy@gmail.com

Economist Kathryn Anne Edwards and co-host editor Robin Rauzi talk about the fundamentals of the U.S. economy and how to build a better future one problem and solution at a time. Our premise is that the United States has remarkable economy — and yet for tens of millions of Americans it is not performing up to its potential. It could be more open to aspiring workers, less hostile to change, safer for workers, less risky for retirees, and so on.✨ Support the podcast at: <a href="https://optimisteconomy.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">optimisteconomy.com</a> ✨Ask questions or share your economic worries with us at: <a href="mailto:optimist.economy@gmail.com" rel="noopener noreferrer">optimist.economy@gmail.com</a>

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The Cash-for-Kids Study: Misread and Misrepresented

The Cash-for-Kids Study: Misread and Misrepresented

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