Study Finds No Link Between Alaska's Cash Transfers and Trauma or Fatality

Research examines 11 years of data on serious injuries and deaths in the state

Published on Feb. 10, 2026

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A new study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology has found no evidence that Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend, which provides annual cash payments to all state residents, increases the risk of serious traumatic injury or death. The research, conducted by a team from New York University, the University of California San Francisco, and Alaska's former chief medical officer, examined 11 years of data on injuries and deaths across the state.

Why it matters

Cash transfer programs are growing in the United States, but have faced criticism from those who worry the payments could lead to harmful behaviors like substance abuse. This study provides important population-level evidence that such fears may be unfounded, which could help inform policy decisions around guaranteed income initiatives.

The details

The study looked at data on all traumatic injuries treated in Alaska hospitals and all reported deaths in the state from 2009 to 2019. The researchers found no increase in serious injuries or unnatural deaths in the short term following the annual cash payments, which typically range from $1,000 to $2,000 per resident. The pattern held true even in urban areas of Alaska, suggesting the findings could be generalizable beyond the state.

  • Alaska's Permanent Fund Dividend has provided annual cash payments to state residents since 1982.
  • The new study examined data from 2009 to 2019.

The players

Sarah Cowan

Sociologist at New York University and founder/executive director of the university's Cash Transfer Lab, which conducted the study.

Anne Zink

Former chief medical officer for the State of Alaska from 2019 to 2024, and now a senior fellow at the Yale School of Public Health.

Ruby Steedle

Researcher at the NYU Cash Transfer Lab and lead author of the study.

Tasce Bongiovanni

Associate professor of surgery at the University of California San Francisco School of Medicine and co-author of the study.

Byungkyu Lee

Assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at New York University and co-author of the study.

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What they’re saying

“Past research has shown that cash transfers are an effective tool for reducing poverty, but their implementation is often limited by critics who worry about irresponsible spending that can lead to tragedy. Those fears are unfounded. Our long-term study of a state's population shows no connection between cash transfers and serious injury or death.”

— Sarah Cowan, Sociologist, New York University (Mirage News)

“As a practicing emergency physician I worried about yearly PFD leading to immediate harm, but as Alaska's chief medical officer and public health official, I know how important it is to review the data objectively. This study provides the kind of population-level evidence that public health officials and policymakers need when evaluating guaranteed income programs. When looking across the entire state's population over 11 years, there was no evidence of increased trauma or mortality temporally associated with the PFD cash transfer.”

— Anne Zink, Former Chief Medical Officer, State of Alaska (Mirage News)

What’s next

The study's findings could help inform policy decisions around guaranteed income initiatives in the United States.

The takeaway

This long-term, population-level study provides strong evidence that fears about cash transfer programs leading to increased risk of serious injury or death are unfounded, which could help overcome barriers to the implementation of such programs aimed at reducing poverty.