Evaluation report
Impact of Child Subsidies on Child Health, Well-being and Parental Investment in Human Capital: Evidence from Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey 2011-2017
Alex Proshin ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study examined whether Russia's Maternity Capital programme—a cash transfer of 250,000 rubles to families having or adopting a second or subsequent child—improved child health, well-being and education outcomes. Using longitudinal data from 2011-2017 and regression discontinuity analysis, the researchers found no significant differences in health, educational or well-being outcomes between eligible and ineligible families. Household dietary habits also showed no measurable differences between the groups.
Key points
- Maternity Capital provided 250,000 rubles (approximately 10,000 USD in 2007) for second and subsequent children
- Families could use funds for housing, children's education, or mother's retirement
- No significant differences found in child health outcomes between eligible and ineligible families
- No significant differences in educational or well-being outcomes between the two groups
- Household dietary habits showed no measurable differences between eligible and ineligible families
Limitations
The study measures only children born during the reform period and relies on survey data; it cannot explain why the cash transfer did not improve outcomes or whether other unmeasured factors influenced results.
Abstract
This study evaluates the impact of introducing Maternity Capital (MC) programchild subsidy of 250,000 Rub (7,150 euros or 10,000 USD, in 2007) for giving birthto /adopting 2nd and subsequent children since January 2007. The reform madeit possible for eligible Russian families to allocate these funds to improve family housing conditions, to sponsor children education, or to invest them in mother's retirement fund. The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of the MC claim eligibility on various child outcomes and household-level consumption patterns. Using data from representative Russian Longitudinal Monitoring Survey 2011-2017,I test regression discontinuity models and find no significant difference in health, educational and well-being outcomes between children raised in MC claim eligible and ineligible families. In addition, no such differences were found in terms of household-level dietary habits and preferences. The results are robust to different and functional, semi- and non-parametric RDD specifications.