The impact of universal child benefits on family health and behaviours

摘要

In 2006, the Universal Child Care Benefit was introduced in Canada for all children aged less than 6 years. This program aims to help cover the cost of children and to provide financial assistance to families with young children in their choice of childcare. We exploit this policy change to estimate the effects of unconditional family cash transfers on the health and behaviours of two-parent families and their children. Using a difference-in-differences model, we find no evidence that the program improved child and parental outcomes in aggregate. A modest but fragile beneficial effect is found for low-education families and for girls.