Fair point, that deworming and cash transfers increase consumption instead of directly increase well being, or at least thatās what GiveWellās main analysis rests on. I do recall that the GD study actually did look at SWB and on page 4 (bit.ly/āā2B97A1Y) it says that it increased a bunch of different happiness metrics as well (depression, stress, happiness and life satisfaction). However, if you only looked at that effect, GiveDirectly may not be that cost-effective. I havenāt investigated it that much from that angle.
In terms of preventing infant mortality, it seems unlikely that losing a child wouldnāt cause immense suffering to the parents, especially the mother. People often think that this wouldnāt happen because people just āget used toā babies dying, but the odds that a child will die is actually quite low nowadays, even in the developing world. In India, where I have the most experience, itās measured in deaths per 1,000 live births, not 100, because itās thatās rare. Additionally, because I donāt think death is nearly as bad as DALYs would have it, I looked a lot into parental mourning before choosing SMS reminders. I donāt have anything formal I wrote up I can point to (though I might at some point), but my research found that most parents, after the loss of a child, are depressed for around a year, with some tail ends of people who never appear to recover.
If itās the metrics issue thatās leading to drug policy reform, I would recommend looking into preventing iron deficiency (through supplements or fortification) as an alternative. Itās more evidence based and iron deficiency causes massive unhappiness. Anecdotally Iāve had friends who transformed from sad grumpy monsters into happy productive members of society after realizing they were deficient. Additionally thereās evidence it increases income, increases IQ if taken during pregnancy, and decreases mortality in certain circumstances, so itās pretty robust no matter the metrics you care about.
Lastly, Iāll admit that I havenāt read all of your posts /ā critiques of AMFās effectiveness, so Iāll have to go and do that :)
Fair point, that deworming and cash transfers increase consumption instead of directly increase well being, or at least thatās what GiveWellās main analysis rests on. I do recall that the GD study actually did look at SWB and on page 4 (bit.ly/āā2B97A1Y) it says that it increased a bunch of different happiness metrics as well (depression, stress, happiness and life satisfaction). However, if you only looked at that effect, GiveDirectly may not be that cost-effective. I havenāt investigated it that much from that angle.
In terms of preventing infant mortality, it seems unlikely that losing a child wouldnāt cause immense suffering to the parents, especially the mother. People often think that this wouldnāt happen because people just āget used toā babies dying, but the odds that a child will die is actually quite low nowadays, even in the developing world. In India, where I have the most experience, itās measured in deaths per 1,000 live births, not 100, because itās thatās rare. Additionally, because I donāt think death is nearly as bad as DALYs would have it, I looked a lot into parental mourning before choosing SMS reminders. I donāt have anything formal I wrote up I can point to (though I might at some point), but my research found that most parents, after the loss of a child, are depressed for around a year, with some tail ends of people who never appear to recover.
If itās the metrics issue thatās leading to drug policy reform, I would recommend looking into preventing iron deficiency (through supplements or fortification) as an alternative. Itās more evidence based and iron deficiency causes massive unhappiness. Anecdotally Iāve had friends who transformed from sad grumpy monsters into happy productive members of society after realizing they were deficient. Additionally thereās evidence it increases income, increases IQ if taken during pregnancy, and decreases mortality in certain circumstances, so itās pretty robust no matter the metrics you care about.
Lastly, Iāll admit that I havenāt read all of your posts /ā critiques of AMFās effectiveness, so Iāll have to go and do that :)