The US town that pays every pregnant woman $1,500: We're not OK with our babies being born into poverty'

"The program promised $1,500 for all expectant mothers during pregnancy and $500 per month for the first year of their infant's life. All Sintery had to do was upload a copy of her ultrasound and ID. Pregnant with her second child 19 years after she'd had her first, Sintery needed all new baby supplies. And as a preschool teacher, she'd be grateful for any help she could get paying for all of it."

"Researchers at Michigan State University had just launched the United States's first community-wide, unconditional cash transfer program for new families, and Sintery who gave birth to her daughter Jolene Love in May 2024 qualified. It took so much stress away, said Sintery. I used that money to buy my car seat, to buy her bassinet and her crib. She was also able to take the first 14 weeks of her daughter's life off from work,"

An unconditional cash transfer program in Flint, Michigan provided $1,500 during pregnancy and $500 monthly for an infant's first year to qualifying expectant mothers. Eligible participants enrolled by uploading an ultrasound and ID. Recipients used funds for car seats, bassinets, cribs, diapers and to take leave from work. The program reduced maternal postpartum depression, stabilized family housing, improved infant health outcomes, and generated savings by reducing neonatal intensive care spending. The initiative represents the United States's first community-wide experiment of unconditional cash support for new families and produced measurable economic and health benefits for participants and infants.

Read at www.theguardian.com