Fernald – program reduces maternal depression

The program had a significant effect on reducing depression in mothers. So, this was really exciting because it’s a clear pathway. People always ask what is the cash doing? I see two clear pathways. One is that households can simply purchase more books or toys for their kids and that could improve cognition or improve language but another clear pathway that really comes out of the mental health and psychology literature has to do with the fact that mothers who are getting cash are less depressed, and we have shown this now, and are then able to be more sensitive caregivers for their kids. So I think both of those pathways really seem to be at work.