The impact of an unconditional tax credit for families on self-rated health in adults: Further evidence from the cohort study of 6900 New Zealanders

Abstract

It is hypothesized that unconditional (given without obligation) publicly funded financial credits more effectively improve health than conditional financial credits in high-income countries. We previously reported no discernible short-term impact of an employment-conditional tax credit for families on self-rated health (SRH) in adults in New Zealand. This study estimates the effect of an unconditional tax credit for families, called Family Tax Credit (FTC), on SRH in the same study population and setting.A balanced panel of 6900 adults in families was extracted from seven waves (2002–2009) of the Survey of Family, Income and Employment. The exposures, eligibility for and amount of FTC, were derived by applying government eligibility and entitlement criteria. The outcome, SRH, was collected annually. Fixed effects regression analyses eliminated all time-invariant confounding and adjusted for measured time-varying confounders.Becoming eligible for FTC was associated with a small and statistically insignificant change in SRH over the past year [effect estimate: 0.013; 95% confidence interval (CI) −0.011 to 0.037], as was an increase in the estimated amount of FTC by $1000 (effect estimate: −0.001; 95% CI −0.006 to 0.004).The unconditional tax credit for families had no discernible short-term impact on SRH in adults in New Zealand. It did not more effectively improve health status than an employment-conditional tax credit for families.