The Conversation Women giving cash to new mums
Oct 13, 2025
Dr. Mona Hanna is a pediatrician and director of RxKids, a program in the US providing cash to new mothers. Dr. Miriam Laker-Oketta, a Senior Research Advisor at GiveDirectly, advocates for cash transfers in Uganda. They discuss how cash helps families manage the financial strains of pregnancy and early motherhood. The guests share compelling evidence that unconditional cash transfers can reduce infant mortality and improve health outcomes. They highlight personal experiences that motivated their shift from medicine to cash-based solutions, showcasing the broader impact on community well-being.
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Clinician Who Saw Poverty As Root Cause
- Miriam Laker-Oketta moved from clinical work to cash-aid research after seeing late hospital presentations tied to poverty.
- She concludes that people know what to do but lack the means, so she calls cash "medicine."
New Mother Forced Back To Work After Birth
- Mona Hanna recounts a mother who returned to work four days after a preterm birth because of financial need.
- She uses this to illustrate families' constrained choices, not lack of care.
Cash Benefits Dramatically Cut Child Poverty
- The Expanded Child Tax Credit during COVID cut US child poverty to about 5% and improved nutrition, housing, and reduced child abuse.
- Mona Hanna frames unconditional monthly cash as a powerful public-health intervention with measurable social benefits.