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Guaranteed income: experiences of African American mothers in the Magnolia Mother’s Trust Project
Abstract
The Magnolia Mother’s Trust Project seeks to spotlight the impact of consumer sovereignty inherent in cash transfers to low-income single mothers. The project offered a guaranteed income benefit of $12,000 for one year to 110 Black single mothers in Jackson, Mississippi. Participants were within 200% of the poverty threshold. The aim of this investigation is to describe the project and report preliminary findings of outcomes related to community connectedness, health, and family wellness for Magnolia Mother’s Trust participants. This report highlights the differences in preliminary outcomes between Magnolia Mothers and similarly situated women who did not receive the cash supplement. Implications for policy and further investigation are discussed in the conclusion.
... Situating these findings within the literature suggests several implications for future research and policymaking. There is currently broad interest in similar policies (e.g., cash transfers) at the local level across the U.S., and our findings provide insights into future evaluations of these programs (Brady et al., 2023;Leach, 2023;Onifade et al., 2023;West & Castro, 2023). For example, we found that the CTC may have helped position some families for long-term benefits by helping them secure jobs with better pay or get a divorce; however, it is unclear how the temporary nature of the expansion shaped our findings. ...
The child tax credit expansion of 2021 heralded a substantial, albeit temporary, expansion of the social safety net. Despite the breadth of evidence regarding the credit’s effects on population health, there has been little attention to how families experienced and understood it. This study uses semi-structured interviews conducted between March and June 2023 with 22 caregivers living in Maryland that received the credit to fill gaps about how caregivers experienced the expansion and how their understanding of the expansion shaped these experiences. Caregivers, regardless of income, reported that the expanded child tax credit payments provided financial stability in otherwise uncertain times. However, many were confused by the credit’s structure and concerned about its financial implications for their 2022 tax returns, which contributed to financial anxiety and reinforced feelings of mistrust towards the government, particularly among lower- and middle-income caregivers. Although the expanded child tax credit was broadly beneficial, policymakers enacting similar policies in the future should consider distributing funds outside of the federal tax system, which may be confusing for recipients and may contributed to unintended consequences such as financial anxiety.
Cash assistance programs have been piloted as Basic or Guaranteed Income across the United States. This research asks how programs are being designed and evaluated, with implications for how collective program impacts are understood. To answer this question, we assemble and review 105 programs based in the United States, covering over 40,000 beneficiaries. We compare eligibility criteria, funding sources, distribution amounts, program administration, pilot duration, and evaluation measures. We find that just over half of the programs use income-based qualifications and most (84 %) have some form of place-based eligibility criteria defined by residence. The plurality of programs (28) are based in California (CA) and 16 operate at the county level. We also find that while the development of pilots often uses community development framing, funding and evaluation measures tend to be more aligned with either economic or public health intervention assessments. As multiple fields of study engage with poverty alleviation, our findings add nuance to the complex and continuously developing landscape of interventions and evaluations.
During the covid-19 pandemic, basic income pilot programs spread across U.S. cities like the novel coronavirus itself. The policy of no-strings-attached cash transfers marks a potentially significant change in the development of post-austerity politics, but only if basic income programs can endure beyond their trial phase. This paper centers the phenomenon of viral cash—cash transfer programs that mutate and multiply like the coronavirus to which they respond—as a means of assessing the possible pathways from trial programs to standing policy. Drawing on case studies of pilot programs in Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Denver, I argue that basic income pilots extend beyond their end-date by creating individual and institutional constituencies invested in unconditional cash transfers. Focusing on these constituencies draws attention to basic income’s role in popularizing child tax credits, program cash stipends and other policy reforms recently enacted by cities and states. Seen this way, basic income’s virus-like susceptibility to mutation plays a key role in seeding support for urban policies and politics that counter prior austerity by centering investment in human capacity.
Research supports that exposure to stressors (e.g., perceived stress, racism) during pregnancy can negatively impact the immune system, which may lead to infection and ultimately increases the risk for having a preterm or low birth weight infant. It is well known that Black women report higher levels of stressors at multiple timepoints across pregnancy compared to women of all other racial and ethnic groups. This study addresses gaps in the literature by describing pregnant and early postpartum Black women's exposures to structural racism and self‐reported experiences of racial discrimination, and the extent to which these factors are related. We used a cross‐sectional study design to collect data related to exposures to racism from pregnant and early postpartum Black women residing in Oakland, California from January 2016–December 2017. Comparative analysis revealed that living in highly deprived race + income neighborhoods was associated with experiencing racial discrimination in three or more situational domains (p = 0.01). Findings show that Black women are exposed to high levels of racism that may have negative impacts on maternal health outcomes. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.
This field study investigated the consequences of receiving poverty aid through conditional transfer programmes in the form of autonomy-oriented help (i.e., cash) or dependency-oriented help (i.e., vouchers) in impoverished rural communities in Panama. The empowering effects of autonomy- (vs. dependency-) help have so far only been studied in laboratory settings, or in settings where help could easily be refused. Little is known about the reactions of people who rely on help for extended periods of time. This study provides insights into how aid recipients are influenced by the type of aid they receive. Results showed that, as expected, recipients of cash reported more autonomy, empowerment, and life improvements than recipients of vouchers. Training, another type of autonomy-oriented help, was positively related to empowerment, personal, and family change beliefs. These findings illustrate the benefits of autonomy-oriented help programmes in empowering people from extremely poor communities around the world, who rely on aid for extended periods of time.
The current study evaluated connections between marital distress, harsh parenting, and child externalizing behaviors in line with predictions from the Family Stress Model (FSM). Prospective, longitudinal data came from 273 mothers, fathers, and children participating when the child was 2, between 3 and 5, and between 6 and 10 years old. Assessments included observational and self-report measures. Information regarding economic hardship and economic pressure were assessed during toddlerhood, and parental emotional distress, couple conflict, and harsh parenting were collected during early childhood. Child externalizing behavior was assessed during both toddlerhood and middle childhood. Results were consistent with predictions from the FSM in that economic hardship led to economic pressure, which was associated with parental emotional distress and couple conflict. This conflict was associated with harsh parenting and child problem behavior. This pathway remained statistically significant controlling for externalizing behavior in toddlerhood. (PsycINFO Database Record
Voices of the Poor consists of three books that bring together the experiences of over 60,000 poor women and men. The first book, Can Anyone Hear Us? is based on the voices of over 40,000 poor women and men in 50 countries from the World Bank's participatory poverty assessments. The second book, Crying Out for Change, draws material from a new 23-country comparative study. The final book, From Many Lands, offers regional patterns and country case studies.
HE importance of social trust has become widely accepted in the social sciences. One reason for the interest in social trust is that, as measured in surveys, it correlates with a number of other variables that are normatively highly desirable. At the individual level, people who believe that in general most other people in their society can be trusted are also more inclined to have a positive view of their democratic in- stitutions, to participate more in politics, and to be more active in civic organizations. They also give more to charity and are more tolerant toward minorities and to people who are not like themselves. Trusting people also tend to be more optimistic about their own ability to influ- ence their own life chances and, not least important, to be more happy with how their life is going. 1
As the second book in a three-part series entitled Voices of the Poor, " Crying out for Change " accounts for the voices from comparative fieldwork among twenty three countries. Through participatory, and qualitative research methods, the book presents very directly, poor people ' s own voices, and the realities of their lives. It outlines the multidimensional aspects of well-being, and how poor people see it, highlighting that in material terms, " enough " is not a lot for a good life, and, analyzes social well-being, security, and freedom of choice and action, in contrast to the " ill-being " aspects of material absence, reflecting on the experiences of humiliation, shame, anguish. and grief. The struggle for livelihoods is described through the scarcity of rural production, the diversified cities ' bondage, and, the limited opportunities of life, and individual breakthroughs challenging their livelihoods. Further analysis reflect on the inadequacy, isolation, and lack of access to infrastructure; on the health aspects of mind and body; on gender relations in troubled subjugation; on social exclusion; and, on the uncertainties for survival. It finally challenges the meaning of development, and of power, calling for change, from material poverty to adequate assets and livelihoods, from exclusion to inclusion, organization, and empowerment.
Coronavirus epidemic can push millions of people in poverty. The shortage of healthcare resources, lack of sanitation, and population compactness leads to an increase in communicable diseases, which may increase millions of people add in a vicious cycle of poverty. The study used the number of factors that affect poverty incidence in a panel of 76 countries for a period of 2010–2019. The dynamic panel GMM estimates show that the causes of death by communicable diseases, chemical-induced carbon and fossil fuel combustion, and lack of access to basic hand washing facilities menace to increase poverty headcounts, whereas, an increase in healthcare expenditures substantially decreases poverty headcounts across countries. Further, the results show the U-shaped relationship between economic growth and poverty headcounts, as economic growth first decreases and later increase poverty headcount due to rising healthcare disparities among nations. The causality estimates show that lack of access to basic amenities lead to increase of communicable diseases including COVID-19 whereas chemical-induced carbon and fossil fuel emissions continue to increase healthcare expenditures and economic growth in a panel of selected countries. The rising healthcare disparities, regional conflicts, and public debt burden further ‘hold in the hand’ of communicable diseases that push millions of people in the poverty trap.
Despite increasing attention on the topic of empowerment, our under-standing of the construct and its underlying processes remains limited. This article addresses these shortcomings by providing an analytical treatment of the construct and by integrating the diverse approaches to empowerment found in both the management and psychology literatures. In addition, the authors identify certain antecedent conditions of powerlessness and practices that have been hypothesized to empower subordinates.
Intersectionality theorists and researchers suggest the importance of examining unique stereotypes associated with intersecting group identities. We focus on the unique stereotypes of Black women in the United States related to sexuality and motherhood. In an online experimental study, 435 undergraduates from a Northeastern U.S. university were randomly assigned to one of the four conditions in which they viewed a photograph and read a description of a target young woman. The target’s race (Black vs. White) and pregnancy status (pregnant vs. no pregnancy information) were varied. A Black female target (pregnant or not) was perceived more negatively on items related to historically rooted societal stereotypes about sexual activity, sexual risk, motherhood status, and socioeconomic status than was a White female target, but there were no differences on items unrelated to societal stereotypes. A Black target described as pregnant was also perceived as more likely to be a single mother and to need public assistance than was a White target described as pregnant. Current findings, along with evidence that societal stereotypes have damaging effects, underscore the importance of diversifying images of Black women and increasing awareness of how stereotypes affect perceptions of Black women. Findings also highlight the value of research employing intersectionality to understand stereotypes.
As the struggle continues to explain the relatively high rates of infant mortality (IMR) exhibited in the United States, a renewed emphasis is being placed on the role of possible 'contextual' determinants. Cross-sectional and short time-series studies have found that higher income inequality is associated with higher IMR at the state level. Yet, descriptively, the longer-term trends in income inequality and in IMR seem to call such results into question. To assess whether, over the period 1990-2007, state-level income inequality is associated with state-level IMR; to examine whether the overall effect of income inequality on IMR over this period varies by state; to test whether the association between income inequality and IMR varies across this time period. IMR data - number of deaths per 1000 live births in a given state and year - were obtained from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Wonder database. Income inequality was measured using the Gini coefficient, which varies from zero (complete equality) to 100 (complete inequality). Covariates included state-level poverty rate, median income, and proportion of high school graduates. Fixed and random effects regressions were conducted to test hypotheses. Fixed effects models suggested that, overall, during the period 1990-2007, income inequality was inversely associated with IMR (β = -0.07, SE (0.01)). Random effects models suggested that when the relationship was allowed to vary at the state-level, it remained inverse (β = -0.05, SE (0.01)). However, an interaction between income inequality and time suggested that, as time increased, the effect of income inequality had an increasingly positive association with total IMR (β = 0.009, SE (0.002)). The influence of state income inequality on IMR is dependent on time, which may proxy for time-dependent aspects of societal context.
Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Acceleration of progress in nutrition will require eff ective, large-scale nutrition-sensitive programmes that address
key underlying determinants of nutrition and enhance the coverage and eff ectiveness of nutrition-specifi c
interventions. We reviewed evidence of nutritional eff ects of programmes in four sectors—agriculture, social safety
nets, early child development, and schooling. The need for investments to boost agricultural production, keep prices
low, and increase incomes is undisputable; targeted agricultural programmes can complement these investments by
supporting livelihoods, enhancing access to diverse diets in poor populations, and fostering women’s empowerment.
However, evidence of the nutritional eff ect of agricultural programmes is inconclusive—except for vitamin A from
biofortifi cation of orange sweet potatoes—largely because of poor quality evaluations. Social safety nets currently
provide cash or food transfers to a billion poor people and victims of shocks (eg, natural disasters). Individual studies
show some eff ects on younger children exposed for longer durations, but weaknesses in nutrition goals and actions,
and poor service quality probably explain the scarcity of overall nutritional benefi ts. Combined early child development
and nutrition interventions show promising additive or synergistic eff ects on child development—and in some cases
nutrition—and could lead to substantial gains in cost, effi ciency, and eff ectiveness, but these programmes have yet to
be tested at scale. Parental schooling is strongly associated with child nutrition, and the eff ectiveness of emerging
school nutrition education programmes needs to be tested. Many of the programmes reviewed were not originally
designed to improve nutrition yet have great potential to do so. Ways to enhance programme nutrition-sensitivity
include: improve targeting; use conditions to stimulate participation; strengthen nutrition goals and actions; and
optimise women’s nutrition, time, physical and mental health, and empowerment. Nutrition-sensitive programmes
can help scale up nutrition-specifi c interventions and create a stimulating environment in which young children can
grow and develop to their full potential.
Despite increasing attention on the topic of empowerment, our understanding of the construct and its underlying processes remains limited. This article addresses these shortcomings by providing an analytical treatment of the construct and by integrating the diverse approaches to empowerment found in both the management and psychology literatures. In addition, the authors identify certain antecedent conditions of powerlessness and practices that have been hypothesized to empower subordinates.
We propose a model of family conflict and coercion that links economic stress in family life to adolescent symptoms of internalizing and externalizing emotions and behaviors. The 180 boys and 198 girls in the study were living in intact families in the rural Midwest, an area characterized by economic decline and uncertainty. Theoretical constructs in the model were measured using both trained observer and family member reports. These adolescents and their parents were interviewed each year for 3 years during the seventh, eighth, and ninth grades. Our theoretical model proposes that economic pressure experienced by parents increases parental dysphoria and marital conflict as well as conflicts between parents and children over money. High levels of spousal irritability, coupled with coercive exchanges over money matters, were expected to be associated with greater hostility in general by parents toward their children. These hostile/coercive exchanges were expected to increase the likelihood of adolescent emotional and behavioral problems. Overall, results were consistent with the proposed model. Moreover, the hypothesized processes applied equally well to the behavior of mothers and fathers, as well as sons and daughters.
Discussed several issues related to psychological empowerment. The thesis of this paper is that the development of a universal and global measure of psychological empowerment may not be a feasible or appropriate goal. I begin by distinguishing between empowerment processes and outcomes. Underlying assumptions are discussed including the notion that empowerment differs across people, contexts, and times. A nomological network that includes intrapersonal, interactional, and behavioral components is also presented. Two examples of psychological empowerment for voluntary service organization members and members of a mutual help organization are described to help illustrate differences in the specific variables that may be used to measure psychological empowerment in different populations and settings.
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