Public Health

BEGIN Birth and Early Years Grants in the UK: an Evaluation

BEGIN has been developed in the context of rising child poverty in the UK, and the need for evidence to inform effective policy action to reduce the impacts of child poverty on health.  

The latest figures show that more than 4 million UK children experience poverty, and we know that this has negative consequences for child and family health. Experts agree that the first 1001 days of a child’s life are important in building strong foundations for future health.  

Outside of the UK, supporting pregnant mothers and young families with cash payments has reduced the numbers of children being born early, and improved birth weight as well as overall child development.   

Across the four UK nations, different cash payments have been given to the lowest income families with young children, but these have varied over time in terms of their value, frequency and who qualifies to receive them.  

To date, there has been no research investigating how these variations impact the health of young children, or their caregivers. BEGIN will explore what happened to child and maternal health in each of the four UK nations after payments were introduced or altered, and whether impacts were smaller or larger for different types of families.   

BEGIN is funded by NIHR (Award ID: NIHR169237). Its full title is A natural experimental evaluation of UK welfare grants in pregnancy and the early years: a mixed methods study