Income Shocks and the Intergenerational Transmission of Executive Function

Early childhood executive function (EF), the cognitive control processes underlying working memory, inhibitory control, and cognitive flexibility, is associated with later-life health and economic outcomes. Using data from Baby’s First Years, a randomized trial of unconditional cash transfers to low-income mothers, we examine intergenerational EF transmission from mothers to their four-year-old children (n=769). Cash transfers do not significantly moderate this transmission in the full sample, but among low-EF mothers, where transmission is strongest, transfers attenuate the mother-child association to the point of statistical nonsignificance. Exploratory analysis suggests that increased cognitive stimulation and structured routines may mediate this process. Income support for low-income families may foster intergenerational mobility by weakening the transmission of low self-regulation.