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.