Study of How Income Changes Affect Stress and Health in Women Aged 18 to 60

What this Trial Is About

This research investigates how income instability affects the mental and physical health of poor women, focusing on issues like depression, anxiety, and blood pressure. It aims to understand the causal effects of different types of income instabilitypredictable and unpredictablewhile separating these effects from the impact of income level itself. The study is designed to advance knowledge on economic instabilitys role in health disparities among vulnerable populations. Participants are randomly assigned to one of four groups a control group that is surveyed but not offered work a stable income group with fixed work hours and earnings a predictable instability group with varied but known work hours and earnings and an unpredictable instability group with fluctuating work hours and earnings that are unknown in advance. The study involves a cash-for-work program creating new job opportunities during a lean season, with careful design to ensure no participant is worse off. Participants will be involved for six periods of two weeks each, during which they will complete work assignments or be surveyed depending on group assignment. Assessments include measures of depression, anxiety, dietary diversity, and blood pressure taken at the studys end. The study monitors how income patterns influence psychological and physiological health outcomes, with all data collected under the supervision of researchers. The total duration includes the intervention period followed by outcome measurement at endline.

Income Volatility and Mental Health, Full Experiment