In Flint, where a cash aid program for moms and babies first began, a new body of research points to some promising outcomes — a drastic drop in evictions and fewer preterm births and NICU admissions.
Leaders of Rx Kids, which offers $1,500 mid-pregnancy and then $500 a month up to a year of the baby’s life in communities across Michigan, released two research papers this month evaluating how the program affects economic stability, maternal mental health and birth outcomes in Flint, where roughly a third of the population lives below poverty. The findings come as the cash aid initiative spreads to other parts of the state — most recently in Hazel Park and Royal Oak Township — and proposed legislation seeks to take the program statewide.
“Healthier babies are being born in Flint because of Rx Kids,” said Dr. Mona Hanna, director of Rx Kids and associate dean of public health at the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine during a press briefing last week.
In one paper, published in the peer reviewed American Journal of Public Health, researchers surveyed Flint moms eligible for Rx Kids, those in Flint before the program began and mothers in the surrounding region. There were two key outcomes for moms eligible for the program: improved financial security and mental health and well-being. Researchers, for instance, saw a “massive drop in evictions” in 2024 for new moms who had access to the cash aid program, compared to those the year before, said Luke Shaefer, co-director of Rx Kids and leader of the University of Michigan’s Poverty Solutions initiative.
Among the findings in that report: evictions fell by about 91% among Rx Kids-eligible Flint moms in 2024 after childbirth, compared to Flint women who had babies the year before, and postpartum depression declined, too, from 46% to 33%.
“Not only did Rx Kids-exposed mothers report a major decrease in postpartum depression — with far-reaching implications for maternal and infant health — but they also felt more loved, respected and hopeful, and expressed more trust in institutions,” researchers wrote.
Read more:
- Cash aid program now open to eligible families in Hazel Park, Royal Oak Twp.: How to apply
- Program to cut infant poverty takes root in cities, counties across Michigan
- What happens when you give moms and babies $7,500? Flint is finding out.
- Supporters of fast-growing cash aid program urge lawmakers to take it statewide
- Pregnant moms, parents of newborns in Pontiac can apply for up to $4,500 in aid
- Kalamazoo moms can apply to get $7,500 next year. Detroiters could be next.
Another study looked at birth outcomes — preterm birth and low birthweight — in Flint before and after Rx Kids, the rest of Michigan and comparable cities to Flint. Researchers found that prior to Rx Kids, from 2021, preterm births were increasing in Flint but after Rx Kids was implemented, the proportion of infants born preterm went down, according to co-author Dr. Sumit Agarwal, a health economist and primary care doctor at the University of Michigan. Prior to Rx Kids, the proportion of infants born with low birth weight was rising in Flint but after the program, that trajectory dipped down. In other words, over the study period, researchers estimated 42 fewer preterm births and 65 babies born at a normal birthweight.
Rx Kids was also associated with a reduction in neonatal intensive care admissions — down 29% or 68 fewer admissions during the study period. Researchers also found a reduction in smoking during the third trimester, a known risk factor for preterm birth and low birthweight, Agarwal said. This may have been because of “reduced financial stress” from the cash aid and additional contact with prenatal care providers, researchers wrote.
“From a healthcare perspective, preterm births and low birthweight births are expensive,” he said.
Preventing a preterm birth avoids about $93,000 in medical costs, saving the city of Flint $2.6 million annually, and avoiding a low birthweight birth cuts back on roughly $144,000 in medical costs, saving $6.2 million a year, Agarwal estimated.
“This is an example of how an intervention is saving money today,” Hanna said.
The new studies add to growing research on the effectiveness of cash aid programs across the country. Rx Kids, now running in 11 Michigan communities, has so far distributed about $14.5 million to more than 3,400 families, as of Sept. 9. More than a year after launching in Flint, the program is open to eligible participants from counties in the Eastern Upper Peninsula and the west side of the state to parts of metro Detroit, and has garnered tens of millions in public and private dollars as well as interest from bipartisan lawmakers to propel its mission.
Rx Kids, now running in 11 Michigan communities, has so far distributed about $14.5 million to more than 3,400 families, as of Sept. 9. More than a year after launching in Flint, the program is open to eligible participants from counties in the Eastern Upper Peninsula and the west side of the state to parts of metro Detroit, and has garnered tens of millions in public and private dollars as well as interest from bipartisan lawmakers to propel its mission.
Contact Nushrat Rahman: nrahman@freepress.com.