Effects of a randomized controlled trial of unconditional cash transfers on epigenetic measures of ageing and cognition in children and mothers
Here we present epigenetic findings from a randomized controlled trial studying the impact of unconditional cash gifts of US$333 per month (children n = 313; mothers n = 329) or US$20 per month (children n = 423; mothers n = 448) to US mothers with low income during their child's first four years of life. Salivary DunedinPACE-pace of aging, a DNA-methylation predictor of healthy lifespan, and Epigenetic-g, a DNA-methylation biomarker of cognition, were preregistered as secondary outcomes (clinical trial identifier NCT03593356 ). As hypothesized, high-cash compared with low-cash gifts caused a -0.17 s.d. (95% confidence interval -0.32 to -0.01, P = 0.037) difference in children's DunedinPACE. We found no evidence supporting our hypothesis that higher cash gifts increased children's Epigenetic-g, although it did correlate with children's brain activity. There was no evidence that the cash gift had an impact on these epigenetic indices in mothers. These findings show a detectable impact of monthly unconditional cash received through early childhood on epigenetic indices of 4-year-old children in families with low income. Whether this epigenetic effect persists and how it may relate to behavioural and health outcomes remains unknown.
Authors
- Kimberly G. Noble (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1496-5113)
- Yayouk E. Willems (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5747-0164)
- Sonya V. Troller‐Renfree (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9979-4696)
- Elisabeth B. Binder (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7088-6618)
- Laurel Raffington (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0144-5605)
- K. Paige Harden (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1557-6737)
- Katherine Magnuson (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1140-1200)
- Greg J. Duncan (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9869-6311)
- Elliot M. Tucker–Drob (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5599-6237)
- Colter Mitchell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9560-1199)
- Lisa A. Gennetian (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4639-7547)
- Molly A. Costanzo (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5082-8725)
- Daniel A. Notterman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8809-8297)
- Jessica F. Sperber (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1636-5560)
- Hirokazu Yoshikawa (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5607-8526)
- Nathan A. Fox (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4452-4503)
- Sepideh Zarandooz
Institutions
- University of Wisconsin–Madison (US)
- Duke University (US)
- Princeton University (US)
- University of California, Irvine (US)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Families USA (US)
- Max Planck Institute for Human Development (DE)
- Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry (DE)
- University of Maryland, College Park (US)
- Columbia University (US)
- The University of Texas at Austin (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Nature Human Behaviour
- Published
- 2026-09-08
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-026-02568-4
- Primary Topic
- Epigenetics and DNA Methylation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- Charles H. Hood Foundation
- Robin Hood Foundation
- W.K. Kellogg Foundation
- Valhalla Foundation
- National Institutes of Health
- NIH Office of the Director