Effect of EITC on Biological Markers of Aging, Health and Mortality

NCT ID: NCT03226548

Last Updated: 2022-04-06

Basic Information

• Recruitment Status: COMPLETED
• Clinical Phase: NA
• Total Enrollment: 1350 participants
• Study Classification: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Start Date: 2016-12-20
• Study Completion Date: 2021-12-31

Brief Summary

Paycheck Plus (PP) is a randomized controlled experiment (RCT) that explores the health and longevity effects associated with increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). EITC is a national program that provides tax credits to low-income, disproportionately minority workers who file taxes. EITC is politically popular, having received bipartisan support. The EITC, along with state supplemental programs, have 7 million American families out of poverty. The investigators' preliminary data analyses show that the EITC has had large population health impacts, reversing declines in self rated health and survival among the poorest Americans.

Detailed Description

Poverty disproportionately impacts minority and rural populations and is very strongly correlated with poor health over the life cycle, and has been hypothesized to lead to a shorter, less healthy aging process. Poverty is associated with a greater burden of disease than smoking and obesity combined and accounts for the bulk of health disparities by race. It is widely believed that an antipoverty policy, such as Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), could improve healthy aging among working-age low-income adults over the life cycle. It does so by increasing material hardship and psychological stress, two risk factors that are strongly correlated with biological markers of premature aging (e.g., shorter telomeres, higher cholesterol levels, and higher blood pressure).

Conditions

Poverty; Tax Policy

Study Design

• Allocation Method: RANDOMIZED
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Primary Study Purpose: PREVENTION
• Blinding Strategy: SINGLE

Study Groups

Experimental

Paycheck Plus: Participants will receive four times the standard Earned Income Tax Credit after filing their annual taxes

Group Type: EXPERIMENTAL

Paycheck Plus

Intervention Type: OTHER

A four-fold increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit

Control

Control participants will receive the standard Earned Income Tax Credit after filing their annual taxes

Group Type: NO_INTERVENTION

No interventions assigned to this group

Interventions

Paycheck Plus

A four-fold increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit

Intervention Type: OTHER

Eligibility Criteria

Inclusion Criteria

1. a US resident

2. Filed taxes

3. Earned <$30,000 in the previous year

4. Aged 21-64

5. Have a Social Security number

Exclusion Criteria

1. Eligible for Supplemental Security Income or Social Security Disability Insurance

2. Married

3. Have dependent children

• Minimum Eligible Age: 18 Years
• Maximum Eligible Age: 65 Years
• Eligible Sex: ALL
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes

Sponsors

MDRC

OTHER

Sponsor Role: collaborator

National Institute on Aging (NIA)

NIH

Sponsor Role: collaborator

Columbia University

OTHER

Sponsor Role: lead

Responsible Party

Responsibility Role: SPONSOR

Principal Investigators

Peter Muennig, MD

Role: PRINCIPAL_INVESTIGATOR

Columbia University

Locations

Westat

Atlanta, Georgia, United States

Countries

United States

Other Identifiers

R01AG054466

Identifier Type: NIH

Identifier Source: secondary_id

View Link

AAAQ9663 (ADD-ON)

Identifier Type: -

Identifier Source: org_study_id