Citation

Lenhart O. Health Econ. 2019; ePub(ePub): ePub.

Affiliation

Department of Economics, University of Strathclyde, Duncan Wing, Strathclyde Business School, Scotland, UK.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1002/hec.3948

PMID

31469485

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between state-level earned income tax credit (EITC) laws in the United States on suicides. Following findings in previous work showing that the EITC is associated with lower depression rates and reduced number of risky biomarkers, I estimated the effects of state EITC generosity on suicide rates. Using data for the years 1996 to 2016, a period with 74 state-level EITC policy changes, I find that introducing a high state EITC rate reduces suicide rates for adults aged 25 or above by 3.91%. The results are consistent across four different measures of EITC generosity.

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Language: en

Keywords

earned income tax credit; mental health; suicide