Study Design
MAY
Baby’s First Years (BFY) is a parallel-group, randomized clinical trial (RCT) of poverty reduction. Between May 2018 and June 2019, 1000 mothers experiencing poverty were recruited from postpartum wards after giving birth, and were offered a monthly, unconditional cash transfer (referred to as a “cash gift”). Mothers were randomly assigned to either a high-cash gift group (n = 400) or a low-cash gift group (n = 600). The monthly gifts were initially promised for the first 40 months of their child’s life and were subsequently extended through 76 months. More information on study design can be found in Upon providing written informed consent, mothers completed a baseline interview and received compensation for their participation ($50). For the next 3 years, mothers were invited to complete annual surveys around the time of their child’s birthday. All study procedures were approved by the institutional review board of Teachers College, Columbia University. This study follows the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (