Unconditional cash transfers and compliance with public health recommendations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

Abstract Although unconditional cash transfers (UCTs) were an important government intervention during the COVID-19 crisis worldwide, research covering UCTs’ impact on compliance with public health recommendations, at an individual level, remains limited to low-income countries. This study assesses the association between UCTs’ reception and compliance with public health recommendations in the United States. Longitudinal data from the Understanding Coronavirus in America panel are applied to difference-in-differences models to estimate how Economic Impact Payments’ reception, associated with the CARES Act 2020, impacted a variety of pandemic health behaviours. UCTs’ reception was associated with increased uptake of explicitly costly health behaviours, such as facemasks, but not with increased compliance amongst behaviours more generally. Moreover, results document stronger effects amongst poorer households. These findings have theoretical implications for how government transfers impact individual behaviour during periods of crisis and for the direction of future research.