Can Early Intervention Policies Improve Well-being? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial

Our new working paper is below. Comments here or by email would be gratefully received. 

Can Early Intervention Policies ImproveWell-being? Evidence from a randomized controlled trial 

Michael Daly¹, Liam Delaney^{1, 2}, Orla Doyle^2*, Nick Fitzpatrick³, and Christine O’Farrelly³

¹ Behavioural Science Centre, Stirling Management School, Stirling University, FK94LA, United Kingdom.

² UCD School of Economics & UCD Geary Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.

³UCD Geary Institute, University College Dublin, Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland.
Abstract

Many authors have proposed incorporating measures of well-being into evaluations of public policy. Yet few evaluations use experimental design or examine multiple aspects of well-being, thus the causal impact of public policies on well-being is largely unknown. In this paper we examine the effect of an intensive early intervention program on maternal well-being in a targeted disadvantaged community. Using a randomized controlled trial design we estimate and compare treatment effects on global well-being using measures of life satisfaction, experienced well-being using both the Day Reconstruction Method (DRM) and a measure of mood yesterday, and also a standardized measure of parenting stress. The intervention has no significant impact on negative measures of well-being, such as experienced negative affect as measured by the DRM and global measures of well-being such as life satisfaction or a global measure of parenting stress. Significant treatment effects are observed on experienced measures of positive affect using the DRM, and a measure of mood yesterday. The DRM treatment effects are primarily concentrated during times spent without the target child which may reflect the increased effort and burden associated with additional parental investment. Our findings suggest that a maternal-focused intervention may produce meaningful improvements in experienced well-being. Incorporating measures of experienced affect may thus alter cost-benefit calculations for public policies.

Keywords: Well-Being, Randomised Controlled Trial, Early Intervention.

JEL Classification: I00, I39

This Version: 7th October 2014