Infants Who Received $1000 No-Strings-Attached Were Nearly Half as Likely to Die
Posted2 months agoActive2 months ago
npr.orgResearchstory
calmpositive
Debate
40/100
Cash AidInfant MortalityPoverty Reduction
Key topics
Cash Aid
Infant Mortality
Poverty Reduction
A study found that infants in Kenya who received $1000 no-strings-attached were nearly half as likely to die, sparking discussion on the effectiveness of cash aid and potential applications in other contexts.
Snapshot generated from the HN discussion
Discussion Activity
Light discussionFirst comment
48m
Peak period
4
0-6h
Avg / period
1.7
Key moments
- 01Story posted
Nov 6, 2025 at 2:09 AM EST
2 months ago
Step 01 - 02First comment
Nov 6, 2025 at 2:58 AM EST
48m after posting
Step 02 - 03Peak activity
4 comments in 0-6h
Hottest window of the conversation
Step 03 - 04Latest activity
Nov 8, 2025 at 9:41 AM EST
2 months ago
Step 04
Generating AI Summary...
Analyzing up to 500 comments to identify key contributors and discussion patterns
ID: 45832349Type: storyLast synced: 11/20/2025, 1:30:03 PM
Want the full context?
Jump to the original sources
Read the primary article or dive into the live Hacker News thread when you're ready.
I would expect an increase in reported infant births (and reductions in reported infant deaths) if someone offered $1000 no-strings-attached! In fact, I'd expect a radical jump in births. And I'd expect researchers to skim off a proportion of the winnings too.
The article describes a randomised controlled trial, and explains the result is from better access to healthcare. What would make you happy, should they have sent you the money instead?
The problem is that you'd give money to people (of course, only those with an infant!9-)) in a scientific study? That is foolishness. Kenya is easily one of the most corrupt nations in the world. If you distribute money there, all sorts will get part of it: sure, go ahead but use your own money.
https://borgenproject.org/10-facts-about-corruption-in-kenya...
https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/national/article/2001511728/...
I can imagine it's possible to falsify all the documents and create fake children, but it's not an easy task to do at a massive scale.
As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat.
Since 70 years ago, everyone here had their ID. It was a long processes, you have to go to the police station and it took a few hours, and there were even cases of repeated numbers and other stupid errors. Losing the physical ID was painful because you must repeat all the process.
Since 10 years, you pick a date and hour by internet, go and in 15 minutes you are done, and a week later you get your ID by post. It cost ~US$5, but you can try to ask for an exception if you are very poor. Or you can pay ~US$20 and get it 1 hour later instead of waiting. It's almost boring.
> As for how you do it: pay your neighbor, who has an infant, say $20, to borrow their child for a visit to the medical center. Rinse, repeat.
Fingerprints! They are not perfect, but the complete 10 fingers are reliable enough to avoid duplication. (Partial matches of 1 partial fingerprint in a crappy medium is snake oil.)
Contrary to some extremist people believe, when people receives cash they will use it to improve their family well being.
To cut basic income on the poorest of society just creates more poverty, suffering and death.
AI does not need another trillion dollars, but the poor will make this world a better place if they get that money to raise their children.
Means testing and treating recipients like criminals places burdensome barriers in front of support (e.g., costs in time, money, energy, and emotional well-being) and often costs more to administer than the cost of the assistance itself when taken too far beyond deterring/eliminating obvious fraud.
Why Finnish babies sleep in cardboard boxes (2013)
~ https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22751415* https://www.nordicpolicycentre.org.au/baby_boxes
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_package
Of course it takes more than just one off tossing of money or gifts to make a real sustained impact as Finland has done:
A critical analysis of the Finnish Baby Box’s journey into the liberal welfare state: Implications for progressive public policymaking
~ https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S01907...