Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Randomized Controlled Trial
. 2022 Jul 23;191(8):1444-1452.
doi: 10.1093/aje/kwab164.

Effect of Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to Americans Without Dependent Children on Psychological Distress

Emilie Courtin, Heidi L Allen, Lawrence F Katz, Cynthia Miller, Kali Aloisi, Peter A Muennig
Randomized Controlled Trial

Effect of Expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to Americans Without Dependent Children on Psychological Distress

Emilie Courtin et al. Am J Epidemiol. .

Abstract

Antipoverty policies have the potential to improve mental health. We conducted a randomized trial (Paycheck Plus Health Study Randomized Controlled Trial, New York, New York) to investigate whether a 4-fold increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income Americans without dependent children would reduce psychological distress relative to the current federal credit. Between 2013 and 2014, a total of 5,968 participants were recruited; 2,997 were randomly assigned to the treatment group and 2,971 were assigned to the control group. Survey data were collected 32 months postrandomization (n = 4,749). Eligibility for the program increased employment by 1.9 percentage points and after-bonus earnings by 6% ($635/year), on average, over the 3 years of the study. Treatment was associated with a marginally statistically significant decline in psychological distress, as measured by the 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, relative to the control group (score change = -0.30 points, 95% confidence interval (CI): -0.63, 0.03; P = 0.072). Women in the treated group experienced a half-point reduction in psychological distress (score change = -0.55 points, 95% CI: -0.97, -0.13; P = 0.032), and noncustodial parents had a 1.36-point reduction (95% CI: -2.24, -0.49; P = 0.011). Expansion of a large antipoverty program to individuals without dependent children reduced psychological distress for women and noncustodial parents-the groups that benefitted the most in terms of increased after-bonus earnings.

Keywords: Earned Income Tax Credit; psychological distress; randomized controlled trials; social experiments.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Design of the Paycheck Plus Health Study, 2013–2016. The x-axis represents a given participant’s earnings from employment. The y-axis depicts the tax credit that this individual will receive upon filing income taxes. The smaller curve depicts the benefits received by the control group (the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) in 2018). The upper curve depicts the credit received by the treatment group (the Paycheck Plus evaluation). For example, a participant who earns $18,000 per year would receive no tax refund if he/she were in the control group but would receive $2,000 if he/she were in the treatment group.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Process of data collection and inclusion in the Paycheck Plus Health Study, 2013–2016.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Results of subgroup analyses comparing receipt of the Paycheck Plus intervention (treatment group) with the existing Earned Income Tax Credit (control group), Paycheck Plus Health Study, 2013–2016. Bars, 95% confidence intervals (CIs). K6, 6-item Kessler Psychological Distress Scale; SD, standard deviation.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Comment in

References

    1. Chetty R, Stepner M, Abraham S, et al. . The association between income and life expectancy in the United States, 2001–2014. JAMA. 2016;315(16):1750–1766. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Muennig P, Fiscella K, Tancredi D, et al. . The relative health burden of selected social and behavioral risk factors in the United States: implications for policy. Am J Public Health. 2010;100(9):1758–1764. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Dohrenwend BS. Social status and stressful life events. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1973;28(2):225–235. - PubMed
    1. Marmot M. Social determinants of health inequalities. Lancet. 2005;365(9464):1099–1104. - PubMed
    1. Moffitt R. The US safety net and work incentives: Is there a problem? What should be done? In: Strain M, ed. The US Labor Market: Questions and Challenges for Public Policy. Washington, DC: American Enterprise Institute; 2016:122–137.

Publication types