The educational system of a welfare state should bridge the financial differences between households and offer every child the same development opportunities. In practice, this promise fails. Children from poorer families still get worse grades at school and later earn less in their jobs. A research group led by Sonya Troller-Renfree from Columbia University in New York has now shown that financial injections still have a positive effect – namely on the children’s brain development.
The researchers selected 1,000 low-income new mothers, 600 of whom were to receive $333 each month. On average, this led to a twenty percent increase in income. For comparison, the remaining 400 women received a regular grant of just $20. The participants were free to spend the money as they pleased without any restrictions.
Stronger brainwaves for cognitive and language development
Twelve months after the birth, the team visited the families at home. However, due to the corona pandemic, this was only possible in 435 cases (of which 184 were in the $333 group). Troller-Renfree and her colleagues measured the infants’ brain activity using electroencephalography (EEG). Electrodes attached to a hood record the frequencies and strengths of the electrical signals under the skullcap. The so-called frequency bands indicate, for example, whether a person is working on a task in a highly concentrated manner or whether they are just taking a nap.
Specifically, the grant boosted the high-frequency beta and gamma bands in the frontal areas of the brain. Experts associate these activities in young children with the development of language and general cognition. So far, however, no evaluation has been made as to what the mothers spent the grants on. The payments continue until the children are four and a half years old: enough time to find out exactly how the money affects brain development.