Short-term effects of the earned income tax credit on mental health and health behaviors
Short-term effects of the earned income tax credit on mental health and health behaviors
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DOI：
10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106223
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发表时间：
2020-10-01
影响因子：
5.1
通讯作者：
Hamad, Rita
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Collin, Daniel F.;Shields-Zeeman, Laura S.;Hamad, Rita
贫困一直与不良的心理健康和危险的健康行为有关，但很少有研究评估通过针对贫困本身来解决这些结果的计划和政策的有效性。我们测试的假设，即劳动所得税抵免（EITC）-美国最大的扶贫计划-改善短期心理健康和健康行为后的几个月立即收入。我们对两个大型纵向国家数据集进行了平行分析：国民健康访谈调查（NHIS，1997-2016，N = 379，603）和收入动态面板研究（PSID，1985-2015，N = 29，808）。结果包括自测健康，心理困扰，吸烟和饮酒。我们采用了一种准实验技术--差异分析。我们利用了EITC支付的季节性变化，EITC每年春季作为退税发放：我们比较了在收到退税后立即接受采访的符合EITC条件的个人（2月至4月）与其他月份接受采访的人（5月至1月）的结果，“区分”不符合条件的个人的季节性趋势。对于大多数结果，我们无法排除EITC没有短期影响的零假设。在两个数据集中对结果进行了交叉验证。例外的是PSID中吸烟的增加，尽管这一发现对敏感性分析并不稳健。虽然我们没有发现EITC对心理健康和健康行为的短期“检查效应”，但其他人发现了对这些结果的长期影响。这可能是因为受益人预期EITC的收入，并相应地平滑他们的收入。
Poverty has consistently been linked to poor mental health and risky health behaviors, yet few studies evaluate the effectiveness of programs and policies to address these outcomes by targeting poverty itself. We test the hypothesis that the earned income tax credit (EITC)-the largest U.S. poverty alleviation program-improves short-term mental health and health behaviors in the months immediately after income receipt. We conducted parallel analyses in two large longitudinal national data sets: the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS, 1997-2016, N = 379,603) and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID, 1985-2015, N = 29,808). Outcomes included self-rated health, psychological distress, tobacco use, and alcohol consumption. We employed difference-in-differences analysis, a quasi-experimental technique. We exploited seasonal variation in disbursement of the EITC, which is distributed as a tax refund every spring: we compared outcomes among EITC-eligible individuals interviewed immediately after refund receipt (Feb-Apr) with those interviewed in other months more distant from refund receipt (May-Jan), "differencing out" seasonal trends among non-eligible individuals. For most outcomes, we were unable to rule out the null hypothesis that there was no short-term effect of the EITC. Findings were cross-validated in both data sets. The exception was an increase in smoking in PSID, although this finding was not robust to sensitivity analyses. While we found no short-term "check effect" of the EITC on mental health and health behaviors, others have found long-term effects on these outcomes. This may be because recipients anticipate EITC receipt and smooth their income accordingly.