Flint's baby-cash program coincides with a halving of newborn deaths

After Flint began paying pregnant residents and new parents, neonatal mortality fell from 10 to 5 per 1,000 births while the rest of Michigan held steady.

Rx Kids, a cash program that began in Flint, Michigan in January 2024, gives unconditional money to pregnant residents and new parents. Families get $1,500 once during pregnancy and $500 a month through the baby's first year. Eligibility starts at 16 weeks of pregnancy, or a newborn up to six months old.

Researchers compared Flint's 2025 neonatal deaths, those in the first four weeks of life, with 2021 through 2024. The rate fell from 10 to 5 per 1,000 live births. Deaths in the first week fell from 8 to 2 per 1,000. Michigan's rates outside Flint stayed stable over the same period. The findings appeared November 2 in JAMA Pediatrics.

The result fits earlier findings tied to the program: more prenatal care, fewer preterm births and low-birth-weight babies, and fewer NICU admissions. Families said they spent the money on diapers, transportation, housing and safe sleeping places. Nearly all eligible Flint residents participate, so the money reaches almost everyone it targets. That matters for abundance. A modest, no-strings payment appears to act on health through ordinary needs, rather than through a new medical product. The program has since spread to dozens of communities in Michigan and Ohio, and Detroit joined in 2025.

The caveats are real. This is a before-and-after comparison of Flint with the rest of Michigan, not a randomized trial, and a companion Lancet study is described as quasi-experimental. Lead author Mona Hanna is also the program's founder and director. She describes the results as early findings that suggest, rather than prove, that financial support may help save babies' lives. Watch for results from the expansion sites.

Source: Science News