Interventions to bolster benefits take-up: Assessing intensity, framing, and targeting of government outreach.
| Title: | Interventions to bolster benefits take-up: Assessing intensity, framing, and targeting of government outreach. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Linos E; Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.; Lasky-Fink J; Harvard Kennedy School, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA 02138.; Dorie V; Code for America, Oakland, CA 94612.; Rothstein J; Goldman School of Public Policy and Department of Economics, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720. |
| Source: | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America [Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A] 2025 Sep 16; Vol. 122 (37), pp. e2504747122. Date of Electronic Publication: 2025 Sep 09. |
| Publication Type: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
| Journal Info: | Publisher: National Academy of Sciences Country of Publication: United States NLM ID: 7505876 Publication Model: Print-Electronic Cited Medium: Internet ISSN: 1091-6490 (Electronic) Linking ISSN: 00278424 NLM ISO Abbreviation: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Subsets: MEDLINE |
| Imprint Name(s): | Original Publication: Washington, DC : National Academy of Sciences |
| MeSH Terms: | Poverty*/economics; COVID-19/economics ; COVID-19/epidemiology ; Taxes/economics ; Humans ; California |
| Abstract: | Behaviorally informed "nudges" are widely used in government outreach but are often seen as too modest to address poverty at scale. In four field experiments over 2 y (n = 542,804 low-income households), we test whether more proactive communication, varying message framing, and more precise targeting can boost take-up of tax-based benefits in California above and beyond traditional light-touch approaches. Our interventions focused on extremely vulnerable households, most with no prior-year earnings, who were at risk of missing out on two crucial benefits: the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit and pandemic-relief Economic Impact Payments. Light-touch outreach consistently increased take-up of these benefits by 0.14 to 2 percentage points-a 150% to over 500% relative increase-regardless of message, sample, timing, or modality. These light-touch approaches resulted in over $4 million disbursed, with a highly cost-effective return of $50 to over $8,000 per $1 spent. However, higher-touch proactive outreach, varying messaging, and more precise targeting yielded minimal additional benefits, with proactive outreach even showing negative returns. These findings demonstrate that light-touch outreach can effectively shift behavior among very vulnerable households in contexts with reduced compliance burdens, but also underscore an urgent need to rethink the role of higher-touch strategies in closing take-up gaps in social safety net programs. |
| Competing Interests: | Competing interests statement:The authors declare no competing interest. |
| Grant Information: | None Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; None California 100 |
| Contributed Indexing: | Keywords: behavioral interventions; experiments; social safety net |
| Entry Date(s): | Date Created: 20250909 Date Completed: 20250909 Latest Revision: 20260310 |
| Update Code: | 20260310 |
| PubMed Central ID: | PMC12452829 |
| DOI: | 10.1073/pnas.2504747122 |
| PMID: | 40924444 |
| Database: | MEDLINE |
Journal Article