The study, led by researchers at UC Berkeley and Oxford, tracked over 100,000 births and found that infant mortality fell by 48% in the years families received a one-time $1,000 transfer from GiveDirectly.

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The biggest gains were among newborns: deaths within the first 30 days of a baby’s life fell by 63%, with drops in maternal and newborn causes of death accounting for more than half of the overall decline in infant deaths.

This drop was driven by a 45% increase in hospital deliveries and a 51% drop in work (often physically strenuous) during the third trimester and postpartum. Less work in late pregnancy coincided with fewer deaths from complications at birth.

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Researchers note that “gains in child survival are concentrated among women who received cash in the month they gave birth or shortly beforehand.” Transfers that came earlier or later had smaller impacts.

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Infant deaths fell more in villages closer to physician-staffed health facilities, where mothers could more easily access and afford existing high-quality health services.

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Between 2014 and 2017, GiveDirectly delivered $1,000 to over 10,500 households across 653 villages in rural Siaya, Kenya. Villages were randomly assigned to receive cash or not, allowing researchers to measure effects on both recipients and their neighbors.

Like most places facing extreme poverty, Siaya, Kenya had no reliable birth records. To fill the gap, researchers supported by GiveWell ran a full census in 2023, surveying 107,000 women and recording over 100,000 births going back to 2011.