“When I Can Make Them Smile”: Cash Transfers and the Joys of Mothering in the Context of Poverty

Poverty researchers focus on whether interventions relieve material hardships and the stresses of financial insecurity. Although these are essential outcomes, a narrow focus on them can limit the evaluation of policy effectiveness. Further, the predominant focus in the field on individual outcomes may miss how policy matters for family relationships. The present study takes a relational perspective and attends to positive policy outcomes such as joy. It uses the case of unconditional cash transfers to show the joys of mothering and the role of such policy interventions in these experiences. From the Baby's First Years study, we analyze interviews with 80 women, who were living below the poverty line at their child's birth; 65% identified as Black. We highlight how mothers use the cash transfer money to create opportunities for joy and bonding in their mutually rewarding relationships with their children. We show how financial resources serve purposes beyond meeting material needs and as human‐capital investments. Financial resources are also conduits for relationship building and family flourishing, including through joy. To holistically assess policy impacts requires a comprehensive picture that allows scholars and policymakers to understand how government programs can help families not just survive but thrive.