It's not like I'm poor: how working families make ends meet in a post-welfare world

Wagner, Kristen

doi:10.1080/10796126.2015.1071243

Cited by 8 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 0 publications

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“…The idea that stimulating tax filers' executive functioning (Spears, 2011) around a precautionary savings motive (Lusardi, 1998) might result in greater refund saving take-up was not supported. It may be that tax filers already knew how they were going to spend their refunds, for example, to catch up on bills, buy clothing for their children, and pay down debt (Halpern-Meekin et al, 2015).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The findings above indicate that some lower-income tax filers can be encouraged to save their refunds. The amounts participants in these interventions save are modest, which may reflect the competing demands lower-income households navigate for refund use (Halpern-Meekin et al, 2015). Still, even modest amounts of emergency savings are associated with lower risk for material hardship (Brobeck, 2008) including food insecurity (Sabat & Gallagher, 2019).…”

Section: Tax-time Savings: Strategies and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We also assess the marginal effects of persuasive messages concerning emergency savings whereas in a previous experiment these messages were used in tandem with the choice architecture modification. In using both active and passive emergency savings messages, we compare higher and lower levels of executive functioning (Spears, 2011), respectively, concerning a precautionary savings motive (Lusardi, 1998) amidst competing demands and preferences (e.g., Halpern-Meekin et al, 2015). Thus, our design framework allows us to compare ways of presenting information about refund saving in ascending levels of intended tax filer attention and interaction with this information.…”

Section: Tax Preparation Field Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, lower-income households experience other challenges such as a lack of retirement savings, debt, and income volatility (Valdes & Mottola, 2021), cash flow problems (Rothwell & Sultana, 2013) and expense shocks (Tach et al, 2019). These households use their refunds not just to save but to catch up on rent and other bills, reduce debt, and make large purchases (Barrow & McGranahan, 2000;Halpern-Meekin et al, 2015;Shaefer et al, 2013;Sykes et al, 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Can behavioral nudges and incentives help lower‐income households build emergency savings with tax refunds? Evidence from field and survey experiments

Despard

Roll

Grinstein‐Weiss

et al. 2022

Journal of Consumer Affairs

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Tax refunds are an opportunity for lower-income households to accumulate emergency savings so they have cash on hand to cover expenses when income is insufficient. Our field experiments testing different behavioral interventions to encourage refund saving via online tax filing show small effect sizes (0.12-0.14) and a low aggregate savings rate (12%) that might be increased were filers to receive financial incentives. We test a key provision of the Refund to Rainy Day Saving and Financial Security Credit Acts using a survey experiment, finding that hypothetical refund saving jumps from 16% with no financial incentive, to 71% and 80% with 25% and 50% matches, respectively, findings which are mostly insensitive to refund size. Our results suggest that public policies to provide greater financial supportincluding stronger income supports-will better prepare lower-income households for financial emergencies than behavioral interventions to nudge refund saving.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tax-time Savings: Strategies and Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Tax Preparation Field Experimentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Can behavioral nudges and incentives help lower‐income households build emergency savings with tax refunds? Evidence from field and survey experiments

Despard

Roll

Grinstein‐Weiss

et al. 2022

Journal of Consumer Affairs

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Perceiving money available from informal networks seems to benefit maternal health (Radey, McWey, & Cui, 2020;Ryan, Kalil, & Leininger, 2009) and receiving money through the public safety mechanism of the Earned Income Tax Credit also seems to do so (Evans & Garthwaite, 2014;Halpern-Meekin, Tach, & Sykes, 2015). But is transferring money to or from informal networks also beneficial?…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

Network Financial Transfers and Psychological Distress Among Unmarried Mothers

Radey

2022

Journal of Family Issues

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Almost 50% of single-mother households live below 200% of the poverty line. In addition to material needs, mothers living in poverty have higher levels of psychological distress. Although some forms of network support (e.g., perceived support, welcomed support) promote well-being, how do financial transfers relate to unmarried mothers’ levels of distress? Drawing from support mobilization, social inequity, and reciprocity theories, this study used The Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study (FFCWS) ( n = 3,117 mothers and 10,676 observations) and longitudinal mixed-effects models to examine financial transfer behavior stability and its relationship to maternal psychological distress. Results indicate that, net of extensive controls, mothers commonly participated in giving or receiving money despite their disadvantaged, volatile circumstances, and engagement, regardless of direction, related to more symptoms of distress. This connection is problematic given the weakening public cash safety net and U.S. economic uncertainty.

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The Effect of Safety Net Generosity on Maternal Mental Health and Risky Health Behaviors

Schmidt¹,

Shore‐Sheppard²,

Watson³

2023

J Policy Anal Manage

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Single mothers are more likely to experience mental health problems and stress-related negative health behaviors than their married counterparts, but a more generous safety net may improve these outcomes. We use a simulated safety net eligibility approach that accounts for interactions across safety net programs and relies on changing policies across states and time to identify causal effects of safety net generosity on psychological distress and risky behaviors of single mothers. Results suggest that a more generous safety net is protective of maternal mental health: a $1,000 increase to the simulated potential combined cash and food benefit package reduces severe psychological distress by 8.4 percent. Breaking out effects by individual programs while still controlling for potential benefits from other programs, we find protective effects of tax credits, cash benefits provided by Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and food benefits provided by Supplemental Nutritional Assistance, but no effects of Medicaid eligibility. The effects are primarily driven by single mothers with the lowest levels of education. We find no significant effects of generosity on daily smoking, but we find evidence that benefits reduce the likelihood of heavy drinking. Results suggest that government investments in resources available to low-income families can be effective at improving well-being.

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It's not like I'm poor: how working families make ends meet in a post-welfare world

Cited by 8 publications

References 0 publications

Can behavioral nudges and incentives help lower‐income households build emergency savings with tax refunds? Evidence from field and survey experiments

Can behavioral nudges and incentives help lower‐income households build emergency savings with tax refunds? Evidence from field and survey experiments

Network Financial Transfers and Psychological Distress Among Unmarried Mothers

The Effect of Safety Net Generosity on Maternal Mental Health and Risky Health Behaviors

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