Income Shocks and Intrahousehold Spillovers: Evidence from a Guaranteed Income Experiment
When an individual's income changes, it can affect their entire household. We consider the effects of an unconditional $1,000/month transfer, sustained over three years, on intrahousehold outcomes. 1,000 individuals were randomly selected to receive the transfer, with a control group of 2,000 participants receiving $50/month over the same time period. We see no effects on household stability, but those recipients who are in a relationship trust their partners less and are less likely to report being happy in their relationship. There are substantial spillovers on the income and employment outcomes of others in the household, with participants' partners being about 4 percentage points less likely to be employed. There are education spillovers within the household and participants are also more likely to report someone in their household having to forgo healthcare, perhaps due to increased diagnoses or access to care. A small share of the transfers flows through to other people, mainly captured in the reduction in labor of others in the household. Limited changes are observed in decision-making power or division of labor within the household. Some indicators of intimate partner violence also exhibit meaningful declines, particularly for women, although reported incidence is low. In general, women and men responded similarly to the transfers, though there seemed to be larger spillovers to the educational outcomes of others in the household when a woman received the transfer, possibly driven by spillovers to children.
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