On September 22nd, Lisa Gennetian organized a one-day workshop, "Cash Transfers in the U.S.: The Science of Impact," which brought together an interdisciplinary group of scholars specializing in U.S.-based randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate evidence and scalability of the impact of unconditional cash transfer programs. The discussions touched on topics such as the interaction of cash transfers with hardship and stress, the design and implementation of these programs, considerations of external validity and selection into studies, and the future of direct cash support for poverty alleviation in the U.S. The workshop featured early career scholars from the Triangle area, including from Duke University, North Carolina Central University and UNC-Chapel Hill, who presented on healthcare consumption, food insecurity and nutritional intake, housing quality, and family structure. The workshop was funded by a P2C development grant and advances DPRC’s goals by aiming to understand how early life policy interventions influence lifelong health.
An agenda for the workshop can be found here.
Lisa Gennetian has also published a blog post on the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) website that discusses themes, challenges, and future questions drawn from the workshop.
The workshop was organized in conjunction with a talk by Dr. Paul Niehaus that examined the "Global Lessons from Cash Transfer Programs." An interview with Dr. Niehaus further discussing this research can be found here.