The Need

Economic well-being services can improve child and family health, but many families miss out on these cash transfers and asset-building tools because systems are designed to exclude them. We are redesigning systems and pediatric primary care – which reaches 90% of children each year — to include economic well-being services. This approach leverages families' trust in their providers and health care's access to families. It holds huge potential to break down barriers and improve health equity.

Economic services directly improve children's environments, such as increasing food and housing security. They also improve parent well-being, which helps children thrive. For example, 529 college savings accounts are associated with improved child social-emotional development by pre-school and decreased maternal depression. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is associated with improved maternal mental health, which in turn is associated with improved child socio-emotional development.

But families are missing out. Only 3% of families have a 529 CSA. 40% of those eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP or food stamps) do not receive the cash they are entitled to. Ten billion dollars of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) is left on the table annually.

These systems are, by design, incredibly complicated to access and navigate. Families face confusing applications, long phone wait times, poor Internet, time scarcity, and limited transportation, among others. We meet families where they're at rather than expecting them to navigate confusing systems on their own. They need to be redesigned. In the meantime, families need our help.