“The Effect of Universal and Unconditional Cash Transfers on Child Abuse and Neglect”.

We estimate the effects of cash transfers on child health and well-being. To do so, we leverage program eligibility due to date of birth cutoffs and year-to-year variation in payment size from a universal and unconditional cash transfer, the Alaska Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD). Using linked individual-level administrative data on PFD payments and child maltreatment referrals, we find that an additional $1,000 to families each year reduces the likelihood that a child is referred to Children’s Services by 3.7 percentage points, on average. Effects are driven by declines in neglect and physical abuse and are persistent to age 4. Additionally, we show that larger cash transfers reduce the probability that children enter foster care and the probability of mortality by age 5.