It may not seem like much to pay $500 a month. However, it transforms Hailey Toporek's life. The 19-year-old found out she was expecting a son only ten days before giving birth. She discovered she would get $500 in financial assistance every month for the first year of her child's life when she went to physician Mona Hanna-Attisha's office for a checkup two days after giving birth, according to NPR. She is not alone in this.
According to PBS, every new mother in Flint, Michigan, where over 70% of children live in poverty, will get the same financial help in addition to an initial $1,500 to promote prenatal care via the Rx Kids program, which is partially sponsored by the state and local groups.
Hailey's mother said that the money may be the difference between her attending college or dropping out of high school. Toporek's mother had to take a day off work to transport her daughter to the appointment. That is the aim, too.
According to NPR, "a baby's birth is also a peak time for poverty" since a new mother may have to quit their job due to the crippling expense of child care or be unable to work at all. Hanna-Attisha, a public health professor at Michigan State University and the program's co-director, tells NPR, "We just had a baby miss their 4-day-old appointment because mom had to go back to work." She goes on, saying that Rx Kids is "about a new vision of how we fundamentally should be caring for each other," according to CNBC.
According to NPR, the US stands apart among affluent countries in that it does not provide monetary allowances and benefits to children, despite evidence that doing so might lower food insecurity and enhance the emotional and physical well-being of both mothers and their offspring. Even though there are a number of new cash assistance pilot programs, most of them are only available to lower-income families. "There are no income requirements or restrictions on how participants spend the money," according to PBS, regarding Rx Kids. It has been possible to gather over $43 million to fund the program for a minimum of three years.
Hanna-Attisha and co-director Luke Shaefer, a University of Michigan specialist on poverty, will monitor the money's impact on the mother and child's health, financial security, and other areas throughout that period.
According to PBS, every new mother in Flint, Michigan, where over 70% of children live in poverty, will get the same financial help in addition to an initial $1,500 to promote prenatal care via the Rx Kids program, which is partially sponsored by the state and local groups.
Hailey's mother said that the money may be the difference between her attending college or dropping out of high school. Toporek's mother had to take a day off work to transport her daughter to the appointment. That is the aim, too.
According to NPR, "a baby's birth is also a peak time for poverty" since a new mother may have to quit their job due to the crippling expense of child care or be unable to work at all. Hanna-Attisha, a public health professor at Michigan State University and the program's co-director, tells NPR, "We just had a baby miss their 4-day-old appointment because mom had to go back to work." She goes on, saying that Rx Kids is "about a new vision of how we fundamentally should be caring for each other," according to CNBC.
According to NPR, the US stands apart among affluent countries in that it does not provide monetary allowances and benefits to children, despite evidence that doing so might lower food insecurity and enhance the emotional and physical well-being of both mothers and their offspring. Even though there are a number of new cash assistance pilot programs, most of them are only available to lower-income families. "There are no income requirements or restrictions on how participants spend the money," according to PBS, regarding Rx Kids. It has been possible to gather over $43 million to fund the program for a minimum of three years.
Hanna-Attisha and co-director Luke Shaefer, a University of Michigan specialist on poverty, will monitor the money's impact on the mother and child's health, financial security, and other areas throughout that period.
