There are now hundreds of thousands of children across the country with at least one parent protected by DACA. The researchers hypothesized that women’s DACA eligibility would influence their children’s mental health, which is exactly what they found. The rate of mental health issues in children whose moms were eligible dropped from 7.8 percent to 3.3 percent, or by more than half. In terms of direct medical spending, mental health issues are among the costliest conditions for children in this country, with costs totaling $13.8 billion in 2011 alone. The new study doesn’t delve into how, exactly, that stress can lead to mental health issues such as anxiety, but mental experts have theories.

Source: Huffington Post August 31, 2017 20:15 UTC