The Prospective Relationship Between Uptake of Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), Financial Strain, and Health in Underserved Families

Abstract

The federal government offers earned income tax credit (EITC) to working low and middle-income families. Lack of knowledge and distrust in government result in a large proportion of qualified families does not uptake (‘claim”) EITC. The study objectives were to (1) determine whether a community derived EITC outreach campaign resulted in improved knowledge of EITC, and (2) examine the relationship between financial stress and self-rated health. A total of 215 women attending Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) centers in southeast Detroit, Michigan, were recruited in 2021. Participants filled out a survey at baseline, and after 6 and 12 months, respectively. The 1-year retention rate was 48% (n = 104). The survey contained questions on sociodemographics, financial stressors, exercise, health, and knowledge of EITC. At baseline, knowledge about EITC was low (mean 1.1 [SE 0.3] on a 0–10 visual analogue scale) but increased significantly during the first six months (2.9 [0.3]; p < .01). Approximately 38% of respondents worried about not having sufficient funds to pay for rent/mortgage at baseline, and almost 28% worried about not being able to buy nutritious meals for their families. Worry about paying for meals at the 6-month mid-point assessment was significantly related to self-rated health at 12 months (p = 0.013). Self-rated health at 12 months was significantly lower (-0.74; 95% confidence interval − 1.40, − 0.16) among those worrying vs not worrying about paying for meals. The model explained 5.6% (r2 = 0.056) of the variance in self-rated health at 12-months. The study shows that knowledge about EITC is limited among qualified households. A community engaged EITC outreach campaign increased knowledge substantially. Financial strain is related to worsening self-rated health. EITC is an underused bipartisan, pro-employment supported federal program to address near-poverty and poverty among underserved families.