New research suggests that additional cash support for low-income mothers may subtly slow biological aging in their young children. Scientists say the findings add to growing evidence that poverty can leave a measurable biological imprint beginning very early in life.
The results come from Baby’s First Years, the first randomized trial in the US to examine how unconditional monthly cash payments influence children’s development. The latest analysis focused on epigenetic markers that can function as biological clocks.
Inside the landmark cash study
The study enrolled 1,000 mothers with low incomes shortly after they gave birth between 2018 and 2019. Families were randomly assigned to receive either $333 per month or $20 per month, with no conditions attached to how the money could be used.
The higher payment increased annual household income by approximately $4,000, equivalent to roughly 18% on average. Researchers are following the children through at least age 6, with plans to investigate longer-term effects on health, learning and behavior.
Measuring children’s biological aging
When the children were around four years old, researchers collected saliva samples from both the mothers and their children. They analyzed DNA methylation patterns, chemical modifications that can provide information about the rate at which the body is biologically aging.
The primary measure was DunedinPACE, an epigenetic biomarker developed through long-term research on aging. Rather than simply reflecting chronological age, it estimates the pace of biological aging and provides a snapshot of cellular wear and tear.
What the researchers found
Children in families receiving $333 per month showed a slower epigenetic pace of aging than children in the $20-per-month group. Their DunedinPACE scores were, on average, 0.17 standard deviations lower, representing a modest but statistically meaningful difference.
Researchers found no clear effect of the additional cash on the mothers’ own biological aging. Other methylation-based measures, including a cognition-related biomarker called Epigenetic-g, also showed no significant changes associated with the higher monthly payments.
Why this matters for public health
Poverty has long been associated with greater disease risk, shorter life expectancy and faster biological aging, but much of the previous evidence has been correlational. By randomly assigning families to different levels of cash support, the trial provides rare causal evidence that income itself can influence biological aging early in life.
Scientists caution that the children remain very young, and it is not yet clear whether these early biological differences will translate into better health decades later. However, they note that even relatively small changes in the pace of aging, if sustained over time, could potentially produce substantial public health benefits across a lifetime.
Unanswered questions and next steps
Researchers still do not know precisely how additional income might contribute to slower biological aging. Possible pathways include reduced stress, improved nutrition, more stable housing or other changes in family circumstances. Future analyses will examine how families used the additional money and how their everyday lives changed.
The researchers will continue following the children into school age to determine whether the biological differences persist and whether they are associated with cognitive, emotional or physical health outcomes. The findings could ultimately contribute to debates surrounding child allowances and policies designed to reduce poverty.
The study underscores how economic conditions can become biologically embedded early in life. If the findings are confirmed, they suggest that investing in families with young children could potentially produce benefits not only at the social and economic level, but also in biological processes associated with cellular aging.
