ArticleBMC public health2023
Potential mechanisms linking poverty alleviation and health: an analysis of benefit spending among recipients of the U.S. earned income tax credit.
Article in BMC public health, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed.
- The Newest Federalism and Population Health.The Milbank quarterly · 2026Article
- The Earned Income Tax Credit and short-term changes in financial strain and drug use.Health affairs scholar · 2026Article
- "It's confusing as hell": a qualitative study of barriers accessing poverty alleviation benefits through the US Earned Income Tax Credit.Health affairs scholar · 2025Article
- Take-up of the 2021 child tax credit expansion among disadvantaged households in California: Continuing barriers to health equity.Annals of epidemiology · 2025Article
- Politicians, power, and the people's health: US elections and state health outcomes, 2012-2024.Health affairs scholar · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe earned income tax credit (EITC) is the largest U.S. poverty alleviation program for low-income families, disbursed annually as a lump-sum tax refund. Despite its well-documented health impacts, the mechanisms through which the EITC affects health are not well understood. The objective of this analysis was to examine self-reported spending patterns of tax refunds among EITC recipients to clarify potential pathways through which income may affect health.
methodsWe first examined spending patterns among 2020-2021 Assessing California Communities' Experiences with Safety Net Supports (ACCESS) study participants (N = 241) and then stratified the analysis by key demographic subgroups.
resultsMore than half of EITC recipients reported spending their tax refunds on bills and debt (52.3%), followed by 49.4% on housing, and 37.8% on vehicles. Only 3.3% reported spending on healthcare. (Note: respondents could list more than one possible spending category.) Participants ages 30 + were more likely to spend on bills and debt relative to those ages 18-29 (57.6% versus 39.4%, respectively). Other subgroup analyses did not yield significant findings.
conclusionsOur findings suggest that EITC recipients primarily use their refunds on bills and debt, as well as on household and vehicle expenses. This supports the idea of the EITC as a safety net policy which addresses key social determinants of health.
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