Paul Youngmin Yoo

All Publications

• Effects of unconditional cash transfers on family processes and wellbeing among mothers with low incomes. Nature communications Magnuson, K. A., Duncan, G. J., Yoshikawa, H., Yoo, P. Y., Han, S., Gennetian, L. A., Halpern-Meekin, S., Fox, N. A., Noble, K. G. 2025; 16 (1): 7517

  Abstract

  This study examines causal impacts of unconditional cash transfers on economic hardship and key family processes that may affect children's development. The study randomized 1000 mothers of newborns, with prior-year household income below the federal poverty threshold, to receive unconditional cash transfers of $333 or $20 per month (Clinical Trial Registry number NCT03593356). Data collected approximately 12, 24 and 36 months after the child's birth show a moderate increase in household income and reductions in poverty; no statistically significant improvements in subjective economic hardship reports or quality of play with infants; and small, mostly statistically non-significant, increases in parental psychological distress and declines in mothers' relationship quality. However, mothers receiving the higher amount reported more frequently engaging in enriching child activities than mothers receiving the lower amount. Cash support may provide other benefits for families and children, but moderate support levels do not appear to address self-reported economic hardship or standard survey measures of maternal well-being. However, these results do not rule out the possibility of very small effects.

  View details for DOI 10.1038/s41467-025-62438-x

  View details for PubMedID 40804074

  View details for PubMedCentralID 2819704

• MEASURING SCHOOL ECONOMIC DISADVANTAGE. Educational evaluation and policy analysis Spiegel, M., Clark, L. R., Domina, T., Radsky, V., Yoo, P. Y., Penner, A. 2025; 47 (2): 413-435

  Abstract

  Many educational policies hinge on the valid measurement of student economic disadvantage at the school level. Measures based on free and reduced-price lunch enrollment are used widely. However, recent research raises questions about their reliability, particularly following the introduction of universal free lunch in certain schools and districts. Using unique data linking the universe of students in Oregon public schools to IRS tax records and other data housed at the U.S. Census Bureau, we provide the first examination of how well different measures capture school economic disadvantage. We find that, in Oregon, direct certification provides the best widely-available measure, both over time and across the distribution of school economic disadvantage. By contrast, neighborhood-based measures consistently perform relatively poorly.

  View details for DOI 10.3102/01623737231217683

  View details for PubMedID 40454000

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC12121947

• Peer income exposure across the income distribution. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America Spiegel, M., Clark, L., Domina, T., Penner, E. K., Hanselman, P., Yoo, P. Y., Penner, A. 2025; 122 (7): e2410349122

  Abstract

  Children from families across the income distribution attend public schools, making schools and classrooms potential sites for interaction between more- and less-affluent children. However, limited information exists regarding the extent of economic integration in these contexts. We merge educational administrative data from Oregon with measures of family income derived from IRS records to document student exposure to economically diverse school and classroom peers. Our findings indicate that affluent children in public schools are relatively isolated from their less affluent peers, while low- and middle-income students experience relatively even peer income distributions. Students from families in the top percentile of the income distribution attend schools where 20 percent of their peers, on average, come from the top five income percentiles. A large majority of the differences in peer exposure that we observe arise from the sorting of students across schools; sorting across classrooms within schools plays a substantially smaller role.

  View details for DOI 10.1073/pnas.2410349122

  View details for PubMedID 39937866

• Poverty reduction and childhood opportunity moves: A randomized trial of cash transfers to low-income U.S. families with infants. Health & place Das, A., Osypuk, T. L., Yoo, P. Y., Magnuson, K., Gennetian, L. A., Noble, K. G., Bruckner, T. A. 2024; 89: 103320

  Abstract

  Black and Hispanic children have a higher likelihood of experiencing neighborhood poverty than white children. This study uses data from the Baby's First Years (BFY) randomized trial to examine whether an unconditional cash transfer causes families to make opportunity moves to better quality neighborhoods. We use Intent to Treat linear regression models to test whether the BFY treatment, of receiving $333/month (vs. $20/month) for three years, leads to moves to neighborhoods of greater childhood opportunity. Overall, we find no relation between the BFY treatment and neighborhood opportunity across time. However, we find effect modification by maternal baseline health. High-cash receipt among mothers with poor health at baseline corresponds with moves to neighborhoods of greater childhood opportunity.

  View details for DOI 10.1016/j.healthplace.2024.103320

  View details for PubMedID 39096582

• Early Algebra Affects Peer Composition EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION AND POLICY ANALYSIS Brummet, Q., Liebert, L., Domina, T., Yoo, P., Penner, A. 2024

  View details for DOI 10.3102/01623737241267957

  View details for Web of Science ID 001298495000001

• Measuring School Economic Disadvantage EDUCATIONAL EVALUATION AND POLICY ANALYSIS Spiegel, M., Clark, L. R., Domina, T., Radsky, V., Yoo, P. Y., Penner, A. 2024

  View details for DOI 10.3102/01623737231217683

  View details for Web of Science ID 001138507400001

• Predicting adolescent and young adult outcomes from emotional support and cognitive stimulation offered by preschool-age home and early care and education settings. Developmental psychology Whitaker, A. A., Yoo, P. Y., Vandell, D. L., Duncan, G. J., Burchinal, M. 2023; 59 (12): 2189-2203

  Abstract

  Children's early environmental experiences are often considered highly influential for later life development. Yet, environmental contexts, such as the home and early care and education (ECE) setting, and multiple aspects of each setting, are not typically examined concurrently. In this study, we examined associations between cognitive stimulation and emotional support in the home and ECE setting during the preschool years (36-54 months) with adolescent (age 15; n = 708; 52% female) and adult (age 26; n = 584; 54% female) outcomes using data from the Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development, a study conducted at 10 sites across the United States. Cognitive stimulation in the home was significantly related to increased academic achievement at age 15 and educational attainment at age 26. Home emotional support was related to decreased behavior problems and increased social skills at age 15. No significant associations were found between either emotional support or cognitive stimulation in ECE and children's later development. These findings provide further support that the child's home environment during early childhood plays a substantial role in development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2023 APA, all rights reserved).

  View details for DOI 10.1037/dev0001576

  View details for PubMedID 37616123

• Unconditional cash transfers and maternal substance use: findings from a randomized control trial of low-income mothers with infants in the U.S. BMC public health Yoo, P. Y., Duncan, G. J., Magnuson, K., Fox, N. A., Yoshikawa, H., Halpern-Meekin, S., Noble, K. G. 2022; 22 (1): 897

  Abstract

  Policy debates over anti-poverty programs are often marked by pernicious stereotypes suggesting that direct cash transfers to people residing in poverty encourage health-risking behaviors such as smoking, drinking, and other substance use. Causal evidence on this issue is limited in the U.S. Given the prominent role of child allowances and other forms of cash assistance in the 2021 American Rescue Plan and proposed Build Back Better legislation, evidence on the extent to which a monthly unconditional cash gift changes substance use patterns among low-income mothers with infants warrants attention, particularly in the context of economic supports that can help improve early environments of children.We employ a multi-site, parallel-group, randomized control trial in which 1,000 low-income mothers in the U.S. with newborns were recruited from hospitals shortly after the infant's birth and randomly assigned to receive either a substantial ($333) or a nominal ($20) monthly cash gift during the early years of the infant's life. We estimate the effect of the unconditional cash transfer on self-report measures of maternal substance use (i.e., alcohol, cigarette, or opioid use) and household expenditures on alcohol and cigarettes after one year of cash gifts.The cash gift difference of $313 per month had small and statistically nonsignificant impacts on group differences in maternal reports of substance use and household expenditures on alcohol or cigarettes. Effect sizes ranged between - 0.067 standard deviations and + 0.072 standard deviations. The estimated share of the $313 group difference spent on alcohol and tobacco was less than 1%.Our randomized control trial of monthly cash gifts to mothers with newborn infants finds that a cash gift difference of $313 per month did not significantly change maternal use of alcohol, cigarettes, or opioids or household expenditures on alcohol or cigarettes. Although the structure of our cash gifts differs somewhat from that of a government-provided child allowance, our null effect findings suggest that unconditional cash transfers aimed at families living in poverty are unlikely to induce large changes in substance use and expenditures by recipients.Registered on Clinical Trials.gov NCT03593356 in July of 2018.

  View details for DOI 10.1186/s12889-022-12989-1

  View details for PubMedID 35513842

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9070980

• School Discipline and Racial Disparities in Early Adulthood. Educational researcher (Washington, D.C. : 1972) Davison, M., Penner, A., Penner, E., Pharris-Ciurej, N., Porter, S. R., Rose, E., Shem-Tov, Y., Yoo, P. 2022; 51 (3): 231-234

  Abstract

  Despite interest in the contributions of school discipline to the creation of racial inequality, previous research has been unable to identify how students who receive suspensions in school differ from unsuspended classmates on key young adult outcomes. We utilize novel data to document the links between high school discipline and important young adult outcomes related to criminal justice contact, social safety net program participation, post-secondary education, and the labor market. We show that the link between school discipline and young adult outcomes tends to be stronger for Black students than for White students, and that approximately 30 percent of the Black-White disparities in young adult criminal justice outcomes, SNAP receipt, and college completion can be traced back to inequalities in exposure to school discipline.

  View details for DOI 10.3102/0013189x211061732

  View details for PubMedID 35874270

  View details for PubMedCentralID PMC9307071