Qualitative Effects of a Guaranteed Income Program on Parental Stress and Early Childhood Investments

• Background & Purpose: About 10.5 million children live under the official poverty line in the U.S. The fact that poverty is so prevalent for children in the U.S. is highly problematic due to the strong link between poverty and adverse early childhood development. There are two main theories that explain the mechanisms through which poverty affects child development: the Family Stress Model and the Family Investment Model. The purpose of this study is to explore if boosting families’ income through guaranteed income payments has the potential to improve outcomes for low-income children by reducing economic stress and increasing parents’ investments in their children.

• Methods: This study uses data from a subsample of the Los Angeles County BREATHE Guaranteed Income pilot program, which randomly assigned 2,000 individuals to a control group and 1,000 individuals to receive $1,000 a month in guaranteed income over the course of three years. Participants were recruited to take part in the qualitative study via phone and email if they (a) spoke English or Spanish, (b) had at least one child under the age of five at the time of recruitment, and (c) had not previously taken part in another qualitative study related to BREATHE. In total, 15 treatment and 17 control group participants took part in 60-to-90-minute semi-structured interviews in May and June 2023. The majority of participants were female (94%) and low-income (annual household income μ = $26,192). The sample was ethnoracially diverse (59% Hispanic, Latino, or Spanish origin; 34% Black or African American; 31% white; 13% two or more races). Researchers asked participants to share their perceptions about guaranteed income programs, their experiences raising young children, and their exposure to material hardship. Interviews were transcribed, de-identified, and double coded by two doctoral-level researchers using Dedoose qualitative research software. Thematic content analysis was conducted.
• Results: Results suggest that guaranteed income receipt relieved economic stress for many participants in the treatment group. Most parents in the treatment group also discussed using the additional income to invest in activities for their young children such as extracurricular activities (baseball, martial arts), experiences (the zoo, LEGOland), and therapies (speech). In contrast, many control group participants indicated that they were currently experiencing economic stress and faced the inability to invest in paid activities for their children. They also reported more barriers to accessing early childhood activities (time, cost, etc.). Control group participants hypothesized that guaranteed income payments would impact their economic stress and ability to invest in their children if they were to receive them.

Conclusions & Implications: Results from this study show that receiving a $1,000 monthly increase in income reduced feelings of economic stress for some participants and increased some parents’ investments in enrichment activities for their children. Considered through a Family Stress Model and Family Investment Model perspective, these results demonstrate that guaranteed income programs have the potential to reduce economic stress and improve access to enrichment activities for young children.