Study Reports Flint Newborn Death Rate Halved

A study published in JAMA Pediatrics found that Flint’s neonatal death rate fell from 10.2 per 1,000 births in 2021–24 to 5.1 in 2025, the first full year of the Rx Kids cash-support program; the rate elsewhere in Michigan remained nearly unchanged at 3.9. Deaths during the first week of life in Flint also declined, from 7.9 to 2.0 per 1,000 births. Rx Kids provides expectant mothers $1,500 during pregnancy and families $500 monthly through a baby’s first year, without restrictions on spending. The findings show the disparity in newborn survival narrowed, but the number of deaths was small and the study cannot establish that the program caused the decline.