20% of the control group dropped out of the study while only 10% or 12% of those receiving cash did. This is a major between-groups attrition effect! I’m not as sure that there were no positive effects: even a very small proportion dropping out due to severe negative effects of poverty would completely reverse the effects they were able to measure.
This probably doesn’t affect the finding that the amount of cash received ($500 or $2000) did not greatly affect measurable outcomes, though. The attrition rate was very similar between those two groups.
I notice that the majority of extra spending during the trial was not even approximately tracked, as it fell into the uninformative category of “transfers”. Not nearly enough to verify whether the previously stated intended use of the money was actually borne out in practice. That said, the major intended spending categories that were reported substantially more often in the payment groups than control (housing and bills, about +10% each) almost certainly do fall under “debt”.
20% of the control group dropped out of the study while only 10% or 12% of those receiving cash did. This is a major between-groups attrition effect! I’m not as sure that there were no positive effects: even a very small proportion dropping out due to severe negative effects of poverty would completely reverse the effects they were able to measure.
This probably doesn’t affect the finding that the amount of cash received ($500 or $2000) did not greatly affect measurable outcomes, though. The attrition rate was very similar between those two groups.
I notice that the majority of extra spending during the trial was not even approximately tracked, as it fell into the uninformative category of “transfers”. Not nearly enough to verify whether the previously stated intended use of the money was actually borne out in practice. That said, the major intended spending categories that were reported substantially more often in the payment groups than control (housing and bills, about +10% each) almost certainly do fall under “debt”.