Roll, S. P., Davison, G., Grinstein-Weiss, M., Despard, M. R., & Bufe, S. (2018). Refund to Savings 2015–2016: Field experiments to promote tax-time saving in low- and moderate-income households (CSD Research Report No. 18-28). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
Category: Publications Type
A toolkit for expanding financial capability at tax time
This work expands upon The Volunteer Income Tax Preparer’s Toolkit: Showing Clients Why Tax Time is the Right Time to Save, a 2015 Toolkit by the Center for Social Development (CSD). This new offering presents the current evidence underpinning various tax-time efforts to expand financial capability among LMI households. It includes sections on creating a […]
Employee financial wellness programs: Differences in reach by financial circumstances
Workplace-based Employee Financial Wellness Programs (EFWPs) aim to strengthen employees’ financial well-being through services such as financial coaching, payroll advances and short term installment loans, credit counseling, debt management, and online financial management tools. Although EFWPs are a fast-growing part of employee benefit packages, offerings vary widely in service type and delivery method across employers, […]
Employee financial wellness programs: Differences in reach by race and ethnicity
Employee Financial Wellness Programs (EFWPs) consist of a wide array of workplace-based services and benefits that aim to enhance employees’ financial well-being, such as in-person financial coaching, online financial management tools, and payroll advances or short-term loans. EFWP provision varies across employers with few organizations offering the same set of services. The recently released Employee […]
Effects of a tax-time savings experiment on material and health care hardship among low-income filers
Material and health care hardship is common among households with low incomes and is associated with a host of adverse outcomes but can be mitigated with having savings. The authors assessed the effects of online tax-time savings interventions informed by behavioral economics on hardship among a sample of low- and moderate-income tax filers (N = 4,738). The […]
Encouraging Tax‐Time Savings With A Low‐Touch, Large‐Scale Intervention: Evidence From The Refund To Savings Experiment
Low‐ and moderate‐income households often struggle to save, but the annual tax refund represents a prime opportunity for these households to save toward their financial goals or build their emergency savings. This paper presents the results of a randomized, controlled experiment embedded in a free tax‐preparation product offered in 2013 to low‐ and moderate‐income households. […]
Effects of a randomized tax-time savings intervention on savings account ownership among low- and moderate-income households
Being unbanked makes it difficult for low and moderate-income (LMI) households to manage finances, save, and access credit. We assessed effects of an online tax-time savings intervention on savings account openings in the 6 months following tax filing among a sample of4,692 LMI tax filers. Treatment group participants had 60% greater odds of opening a […]
The mediating role of assets in explaining hardship risk among households experiencing financial shocks
Material hardship is common among low- and moderate-income (LMI) households. Without liquid financial assets, these households are more likely to experience hardship in the face of financial shocks—large and unexpected expenses or dips in income. Authors hypothesized that shocks have a direct effect on hardship, and that liquid financial assets partially mediate the relationship between […]
Financial shocks, liquid assets, and material hardship in low- and moderate-income households: Differences by race
Low- and moderate-income (LMI) households need financial assets to help cope with income and expenditure shocks. Prior research identifies racial differences in wealth and wealth effects. We examined whether these gaps and effects exist for liquid financial assets. Using group invariance tests in structural equation modeling, we assessed the relationship between financial shocks and material […]
Promoting savings at tax time: Insights from online and in-person tax preparation services
This report presents findings and insights from Refund to Savings: Applications for myRA, a collaborative project involving the U.S. Department of the Treasury, Washington University in St. Louis, and Intuit, Inc. The project explored methods of promoting the myRA (My Retirement Account) savings program at tax time—that is, when households file their taxes. It focused specifically on […]
Behavioral interventions to increase tax-time saving: Evidence from a national randomized trial
Too many households have too little set aside for emergencies, long-term goals, or retirement. This study presents evidence from the Refund to Savings Initiative, a large-scale randomized experiment testing interventions to increase household savings by encouraging filers to set aside a portion of their tax returns. Grounded in techniques of behavioral economics, these interventions are […]
The role of choice architecture in promoting saving at tax time: Evidence from a large-scale field experiment
Tax refunds give many low-and moderate-income (LMI) households a rare opportunity to save for unexpected expenses. We conducted three experiments aimed at increasing tax-time savings by LMI consumers. In a large field experiment, the most effective intervention increased the average savings deposits by about 50%. Delivered as people filed taxes online, this treatment consisted of […]
Effects of a tax-time savings intervention on use of alternative financial services among lower-income households
Alternative financial services (AFS) such as check cashing and payday loans may help unbanked households meet transaction and credit needs, yet often at a very high price. Saving tax refunds can help low- and moderate-income (LMI) households build emergency savings as a way to reduce dependence on AFS and cope effectively with irregular cash flows […]
Home delinquency rates are lower among ACA Marketplace households: Evidence from a natural experiment
This brief uses administrative income tax data coupled with survey responses from roughly 5,000 households living near the poverty line to estimate how access to the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance Marketplaces have affected households’ experiences of extreme illiquidity, which is measured by delinquencies on home payments. To estimate this relationship, we exploit a natural […]
Coping with a crisis: Financial resources available to low- and moderate-income households in emergencies
Using data from tax records and a longitudinal survey, this brief investigates the choices low- and moderate-income households make about their tax withholding and their preferences for withholding. The relationship between withholding preferences and the use of the tax refund, measures of material hardship, and the use of alternative financial services is also explored. We […]
The experience of volatility in low- and moderate-income households: Results from a national survey
Roll, S. P., Mitchell, D. S., Bufe, S., Lynne, G., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2017, October). The experience of volatility in low- and moderate-income households: Results from a national survey (Issue Brief). Washington, DC: Aspen Institute and Center for Social Development.
Responses to and repercussions from income volatility in low- and moderate-income households: Results from a national survey
Roll, S. P., Mitchell, D. S., Holub, K., Bufe, S., & Grinstein-Weiss, M. (2017, December). Responses to and repercussions from income volatility in low- and moderate-income households: Results from a national survey (Issue Brief). Washington, DC: Aspen Institute and Center for Social Development.
Assessing retirement needs and interest in myRA: Findings from the Refund to Savings Initiative
4. Roll, S. P., Oliphant, J. E., Perantie, D. C., Grinstein-Weiss, M., & Davison, G. (2017). Assessing retirement needs and interest in myRA: Findings from the Refund to Savings Initiative (CSD Research Report No. 17-16). St. Louis, MO: Washington University, Center for Social Development.
Racial disparities in education debt burden among low- and moderate-income households
Grinstein-Weiss, M., Perantie, D. C., Taylor, S. H., Guo, S., & Raghavan, R. (2016). Racial disparities in education debt burden among low- and moderate-income households. Children and Youth Services Review, 65, 166–174. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.04.010
Student debt and hardship: Evidence from a large sample of low- and moderate-income households
Despard, M. R., Perantie, D. C., Taylor, S. H., Grinstein-Weiss, M., Friedline, T., & Raghavan, R. (2016). Student debt and hardship: Evidence from a large sample of low- and moderate-income households. Children and Youth Services Review, 70, 8–18. doi:10.1016/j.childyouth.2016.09.001
Do tax-time savings deposits reduce hardship among low-income filers? A propensity score analysis
A lack of emergency savings renders low-income households vulnerable to material hardships resulting from unexpected expenses or loss of income. Having emergency savings helps these households respond to unexpected events, maintain consumption, and avoid high-cost credit products. Because many low-income households receive sizable federal tax refunds, tax time is an opportunity for these households to […]
Support for a tax-time savings policy: Interest in deferring tax refunds with matched incentives
The Earned income tax credit (EITC) is regarded as one of the largest antipoverty policies in the United States. Unlike traditional cash benefits, the EITC is received as a lump sum tax refund. This research brief looks at new proposals from policymakers and advocates that seek to increase savings around tax time. These proposals could […]
Characteristics and hardships associated with bank account ownership among Refund to Savings participants
Having a bank account is one important way for households to securely accumulate savings, build credit, and earn interest on assets. Nationally, 7.7% of households are unbanked—lacking both a checking and a savings account. One proposed step toward financial inclusion is to encourage unbanked households to open accounts and deposit refunds into savings at tax […]
The role of health insurance in the financial lives of low- and moderate-income households
Health insurance is an important resource for enabling access to and use of medical care, and is associated with reduced risk for mortality and poor health outcomes. Health insurance also protects households from incurring major medical expenses and unmanageable levels of medical debt. About a quarter of a sample of low- and moderate-income (LMI) tax […]
Financial anxiety in low- and moderate-income households: Findings from the Household Financial Survey
Despite significant gains in the U.S. economy following the Great Recession, finances remain a common source of stress for many American households. In 2016, 52% of U.S. workers reported that their financial position made them stressed, and research reveals that stress and anxiety associated with finances are particularly common among low-income Americans. In this brief, […]
Delaying Tax Refunds for Earned Income Tax Credit and Additional Child Tax Credit Claimants
The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes Act of 2015 requires the IRS to delay tax refunds for taxpayers who claim an earned income tax credit or additional child tax credit on their returns until at least February 15. The delay could help the IRS better check claims for these credits. But this new requirement will […]
Use of alternative financial services in low- and moderate-income households: Evidence from Refund to Savings
Unable to conduct everyday financial transactions without a bank account or in need of flexible, shortterm credit, many low- and moderate-income (LMI) households turn to alternative financial services (AFSs). This brief summarizes research on AFS use among LMI tax filers participating in the Refund to Savings (R2S) Initiative. We make an important contribution to AFS […]
Refund to Savings 2013: Comprehensive report on a large-scale tax-time saving program
Improving the financial security of low- and middle-income households through the savings of federal tax refunds is the central mission for the Refund to Savings (R2S) initiative. It is important to understand the context in which those households are trying to save and the methods of coping with contingencies when savings are not available. Such […]