[ { "trial": "T24", "eligible": true, "why": "Randomized assignment of eligible low-income Compton households to two flat unconditional cash arms (about $500 a month for 24 months, paid twice monthly or quarterly) or a no-cash control, with a psychological well-being index (including the Kessler 6) and labor supply among the reported outcomes.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["Compton, California"], "population": "Low-income households in the City of Compton with a member aged 23 to 57 and income below 220% of the federal poverty threshold, excluding SSI/SSDI recipients", "years": "2021-02 to 2023-04", "arms": [ {"label": "Twice-monthly treatment", "kind": "recurring", "amount": 491, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 24, "n_randomized": 345}, {"label": "Quarterly treatment", "kind": "recurring", "amount": 491, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 24, "n_randomized": 350}, {"label": "Control", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 1402} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T24-1", "treated": "Twice-monthly treatment", "control": "Control", "kind": "recurring"}, {"id": "T24-2", "treated": "Quarterly treatment", "control": "Control", "kind": "recurring"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": ["participant sex"], "payment_start": "2021-02", "payment_months": 24, "waves": [ {"label": "Endline survey (18 months)", "months_since_first_payment": 18, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["mental_health", "employment", "hours", "earnings"]}, {"label": "Follow-up survey (Summer 2023)", "months_since_first_payment": 28, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["hours", "earnings"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["Psychological well-being index: first principal component of depression frequency, stress frequency, life satisfaction, happiness, and the Kessler 6 (K6)"], "employment_measures": ["labor market participation (any hours of work)", "weekly hours worked in formal, informal and self-employment jobs", "respondent's monthly earnings before taxes", "household income excluding transfers (last 30 days)", "participation in unpaid work", "self-rated change in respondent's weekly work hours and earnings since March 2021 (Summer 2023 follow-up)"], "evaluator": "Sidhya Balakrishnan (Jain Family Institute), Sewin Chan and Jonathan Morduch (NYU Wagner), Sara Constantino (Stanford), Johannes Haushofer (Cornell); data collection by the USC Center for Economic and Social Research (CESR)", "result_reports": ["registered:AEARCTR-0007621_2", "aei:compton", "registered:AEARCTR-0007621_1"], "notes": "Transfers depended on the number of children: $300, $450 or $600 a month for 0, 1 or 2+ children; 491 is the reported average monthly transfer among the 625 of 695 who took up (ITT averages counting non-takers as zero: $448 twice-monthly, $436 quarterly). The quarterly arm got a lump sum near the start of each quarter and the twice-monthly arm payments on the 7th and 21st, with equal totals (NPV within 0.6%); both are coded as monthly equivalents. Recipients chose a prepaid debit card, direct deposit, PayPal or Venmo. Benefits were protected by waivers and a hold-harmless fund. About a third were assigned to treatment, with the ratio varying across enrollment waves, so analyses are weighted; 253 participants were erroneously re-randomized in February 2021 (final assignment kept); 3 pilot recipients were dropped after randomization (698 originally treated). If several household members completed the baseline, one was chosen at random; a few households hold more than one participant. Endline (May-September 2022) response 51% (374 treated, 700 control); $50 per completed survey for everyone, with extra follow-up and bonuses mostly aimed at controls. Psychological well-being is reported only as the index. Baseline (screening survey) had only demographics plus January 2021 income and labor supply. The Summer 2023 follow-up (942 respondents) asked retrospectively about changes since March 2021; its work-hours and earnings items are Likert ratings of change. The two NBER-version files (aei:compton and registered:AEARCTR-0007621_1) are the same November 2024 paper; registered:AEARCTR-0007621_2 is the May 2025 revision." }, { "trial": "T62", "eligible": true, "why": "Individually randomized trial among low-income US adults of one-time unconditional transfers of $500 or $2,000 against a no-cash control, with a psychological well-being index including the PHQ-9 (and employment and earned income within the financial index) measured about 1, 5 and 14 weeks after payment.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["United States (nationwide, online)"], "population": "Low-income US adults adversely affected by COVID-19 who had applied to a national non-profit for relief funds", "years": "2020-08 to 2021-01", "arms": [ {"label": "$500 group (Small Cash)", "kind": "lump_sum", "amount": 500, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 1374}, {"label": "$2,000 group (Large Cash)", "kind": "lump_sum", "amount": 2000, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 699}, {"label": "Control", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 3170} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T62-1", "treated": "$500 group (Small Cash)", "control": "Control", "kind": "lump_sum"}, {"id": "T62-2", "treated": "$2,000 group (Large Cash)", "control": "Control", "kind": "lump_sum"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": null, "payment_start": "2020-08", "payment_months": null, "waves": [ {"label": "t2 (about one week after the transfer)", "months_since_first_payment": 0.25, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["mental_health", "employment", "earnings"]}, {"label": "t3 (about one month and one week after)", "months_since_first_payment": 1.25, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["mental_health", "employment", "earnings"]}, {"label": "t4 (about three months and one week after)", "months_since_first_payment": 3.25, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["mental_health", "employment", "earnings"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["PHQ-9", "Psychological well-being index (Anderson 2008 weighting) of sense of agency, 'living their best life', positive mental health (Lukat et al. 2016), how happy, anxious and lonely they felt, and PHQ-9 depression"], "employment_measures": ["employment (item of the financial index)", "earned income last month (item of the financial index)", "work performance and work satisfaction if employed (items of the financial index)"], "evaluator": "Ania Jaroszewicz (UC San Diego), Oliver P. Hauser (University of Exeter), Jon M. Jachimowicz (Harvard Business School) and Julian Jamison (Oxford and Exeter), with an unnamed national non-profit that recruited participants, paid the transfers and funded the study", "result_reports": ["registered:AEARCTR-0006150_1", "ppr:PPR602979"], "notes": "Transfers were paid about 3.5 weeks after the baseline survey, across seven enrollment waves from August 2020 to January 2021 (registry intervention dates 2020-08-12 to 2021-01-28); a Wave 6 error paid late, so that wave got a second t2 survey a week after payment. Money was placed on the non-profit's online platform for participants to pull into their own accounts (90%) or pushed directly (10%). All arms were cross-randomized to new features of the non-profit's platform; analyses collapse across them. Everyone was paid for surveys (up to $100 plus lottery tickets for $1,000 prizes). 43% had received $500 from the non-profit before the trial (median 243 days earlier). The abstracts describe the surveys as one, six and 15 weeks after receipt; wave months follow the methods' schedule. The main text pools t2-t4 for four indices; results by time point and by individual variable (including employment, earned income and PHQ-9) are in appendix tables and figures that are not in the file read. 83% answered at least one post-treatment survey; controls responded less (80% vs 88-90%). Bank data for 43%. The two openalex files hold only titles. The trial's primary registration is AEARCTR-0006149; AEARCTR-0006150 is a secondary registration on beliefs about need." }, { "trial": "T69", "eligible": true, "why": "Randomized trial (1:1.5, block randomization) of a flat unconditional $1,000 a month for 12 months on a debit card against usual care for Medicaid patients with advanced cancer in Philadelphia, with HADS anxiety and depression and employment variables planned at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine; Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson Health)"], "population": "Adult Pennsylvania Medicaid beneficiaries with newly diagnosed or recurrent stage 3-4 cancer receiving, or within 12 months of, systemic therapy at the recruitment sites, ECOG 1-2, not hospice-eligible", "years": "2023-04 to 2025-07", "arms": [ {"label": "Intervention arm", "kind": "recurring", "amount": 1000, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 12, "n_randomized": null}, {"label": "Control arm", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": null} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T69-1", "treated": "Intervention arm", "control": "Control arm", "kind": "recurring"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": ["age", "recruitment site"], "payment_start": "2023-04", "payment_months": 12, "waves": [ {"label": "3-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 3, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "6-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 6, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "9-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 9, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "12-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 12, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "2-year Social Security records", "months_since_first_payment": 24, "during_payments": false, "measures": []}, {"label": "3-year Social Security records", "months_since_first_payment": 36, "during_payments": false, "measures": []}, {"label": "5-year Social Security records", "months_since_first_payment": 60, "during_payments": false, "measures": []} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)"], "employment_measures": ["weekly hours of employment", "interruptions in employment and work reductions", "earnings from Social Security Administration records (planned at 2, 3 and 5 years)"], "evaluator": "University of Pennsylvania, Abramson Cancer Center at Penn Medicine (PI Meredith Doherty), with Mathematica Policy Research", "result_reports": [], "notes": "Both arms got information on financial toxicity and contacts for their hospital social worker or financial advocate (usual care), so the cash is added to what both arms got. Payments on a USIO debit card refilled with $1,000 each month; an SSA waiver protects SSI; if a participant dies, remaining payments go to a named beneficiary; participants may stop payments. Planned 250 (100 intervention, 150 control, over-recruiting controls for expected differential attrition); numbers randomized by arm are not reported. $30 per completed survey in both arms. Payment dates are not reported: the registry gives first enrollment in April 2023 and primary completion in July 2025, and payments begin after weekly randomization, so years and payment_start are approximate and wave months count from enrollment. The only results so far (SSWR 2026 conference abstract, registered:NCT06611982_1) are preliminary 3-month comparisons (51% follow-up) of financial toxicity (COST), food insecurity and HRQoL domains (energy/fatigue, pain); they include no mental health or employment result, so result_reports is empty. HRQoL is measured with the SF-36 (registry and protocol table also name FACT-G). Planned waves are listed with empty measures; Social Security records are planned to give mortality, earnings and disability benefits." }, { "trial": "T71", "eligible": true, "why": "Pilot RCT (permuted blocks of four) of a flat unconditional $125 every two weeks (eight payments, $1,000) on a debit card against no intervention for Medicaid primary care patients with hypertension or diabetes, reporting K6+ distress, state anxiety and perceived stress at 3 months.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["Philadelphia, Pennsylvania (Penn Family Care clinic)"], "population": "Adult Pennsylvania Medicaid beneficiaries with prediabetes/diabetes and/or hypertension on medication, seen at a Philadelphia family medicine clinic, English-speaking", "years": "2023-04 to 2023-11", "arms": [ {"label": "Cash Transfer", "kind": "recurring", "amount": 125, "currency": "USD", "per": "two_weeks", "months_paid": 3.2, "n_randomized": 50}, {"label": "Control", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "two_weeks", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 50} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T71-1", "treated": "Cash Transfer", "control": "Control", "kind": "recurring"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": null, "payment_start": "2023-04", "payment_months": 3.2, "waves": [ {"label": "3-month follow-up visit (about 12 weeks after enrollment)", "months_since_first_payment": 3, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["mental_health", "stress"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K6+)", "State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, state anxiety subscale", "Perceived Stress Scale, short form (0-16)"], "employment_measures": ["work and school status, and hours worked per week among those working (reported at baseline only)"], "evaluator": "University of Pennsylvania (with National Institute on Aging support)", "result_reports": ["registered:NCT05838027_1", "NCT05838027"], "notes": "Pilot of 100. First $125 paid on the day of enrollment, then every two weeks, $1,000 in all over 14 weeks (registry: over 4 months); months_paid 3.2 is 14 weeks. Paid on a rechargeable Greenphire ClinCard that also carried study compensation. A Pennsylvania DHS waiver kept the cash from counting as income for state programs. Both arms were paid $25 at baseline and $50 at follow-up ($35 more for interviews). Enrollment from April 2023 (registry start 2023-04-04; the paper says 3/2023-8/2023); the last follow-up was in October 2023, so payment end is inferred. Follow-up 93/100 (49 cash, 44 control). The registry's posted results give net mean differences (difference in change) for K6+, state anxiety and perceived stress; the qualitative sub-study paper (pmid:41691989) reports no formal tests and only qualitative themes (including temporary reductions in stress and anxiety) from interviews with a random subset after the follow-up visit and before payments ended, which are not coded as a wave. Work status was reported only at baseline. Emergency and other health care visit outcomes were never collected." }, { "trial": "T81", "eligible": true, "why": "Randomized (by randomly formed app-user segments) trial of a flat one-time unconditional $1,000 from GiveDirectly against no cash for SNAP families with children in 12 states, reporting a PHQ-2/GAD-2 mental health index at 1 and 3 months and employment and hours at 1 month.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["Indiana", "Kentucky", "Louisiana", "Maine", "Michigan", "Minnesota", "New Hampshire", "New Mexico", "North Carolina", "Ohio", "Pennsylvania", "Rhode Island"], "population": "Families with children receiving SNAP who actively used the Fresh EBT app in 12 states, had not received a GiveDirectly payment before, and did not receive SSI/SSDI", "years": "2020-05 to 2020-05", "arms": [ {"label": "Treatment", "kind": "lump_sum", "amount": 1000, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 7915}, {"label": "Control", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 5777} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T81-1", "treated": "Treatment", "control": "Control", "kind": "lump_sum"} ], "randomization": "cluster", "stratified_by": null, "payment_start": "2020-05", "payment_months": null, "waves": [ {"label": "One-month follow-up survey", "months_since_first_payment": 1, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["mental_health", "employment", "hours", "earnings"]}, {"label": "Three-month follow-up survey", "months_since_first_payment": 3, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["mental_health"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["PHQ-2 (depression)", "GAD-2 (anxiety)", "Mental health challenges index (Anderson 2008) of the PHQ-2 and GAD-2 items"], "employment_measures": ["employed part- or full-time", "hours worked", "looking for work", "monthly earned income (reported only as no effect)"], "evaluator": "University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy (Poverty Solutions and Youth Policy Lab) and OpenResearch; transfers by GiveDirectly through Propel's Fresh EBT app", "result_reports": ["registered:AEARCTR-0005852_1", "registered:AEARCTR-0005852_2"], "notes": "Fresh EBT randomly assigns users to 1 of 1,000 segments; segments 0-300 and 801-1000 were treatment and 500-800 control, so assignment was by randomly formed groups of users (the authors treat it as equivalent to individual assignment and report robust errors). Enrollment on May 21, 2020 through an identical in-app banner and screener in both arms; treatment segments had more prior exposure to GiveDirectly campaigns, giving some imbalance (a restricted sample gives similar results). n_randomized are the 13,692 who agreed to be contacted for the study; 9,433 took the baseline, which treated participants took after being told of the award. Money arrived in a Hyperwallet account (PayPal, cash pickup, prepaid card, bank transfer or check); 99% cashed out. The transfer coincided with CARES Act stimulus checks and expanded unemployment insurance. $10 gift card per survey for everyone ($20 late in the field period). The one-month survey was fielded June 18-27, 2020, 4-5 weeks after the May 21-22 transfer; the three-month survey from August 21 for 14 days. Earned income at one month is reported only as a statement of no effect. Labor supply and other exploratory outcomes use the one-month survey; three-month results are reported for the primary indices. The second file is the JPAM 2023 abstract page." }, { "trial": "T82", "eligible": true, "why": "Individually randomized (stratified, re-randomized for balance) offer of a flat one-time unconditional $1,000 against no offer for SNAP app users in high-poverty zip codes, reporting GAD-2/PHQ-2 mental health, stress, employment, hours and earnings about six weeks later.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["Zip codes with poverty rates of at least 35% across the United States"], "population": "SNAP recipients using the Fresh EBT app who lived in zip codes with poverty rates of at least 35%", "years": "2020-09 to 2020-10", "arms": [ {"label": "Treatment", "kind": "lump_sum", "amount": 1000, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 30000}, {"label": "Control", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 30000} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T82-1", "treated": "Treatment", "control": "Control", "kind": "lump_sum"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": ["began using the Fresh EBT app before February 1, 2020", "state generosity of welfare benefits (maximum TANF benefit, three categories)"], "payment_start": "2020-09", "payment_months": null, "waves": [ {"label": "Six-week follow-up survey (October 28 to December 1, 2020)", "months_since_first_payment": 1.4, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["mental_health", "stress", "employment", "hours", "earnings"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["GAD-2 (anxiety)", "PHQ-2 (depression)", "Mental health challenges composite of the GAD-2 and PHQ-2 items", "Stress Overload Scale, short (S-SOS)", "Somatic Symptom Scale-8 (SSS-8)"], "employment_measures": ["worked part- or full-time (last 30 days)", "hours worked last week", "monthly earnings", "job search (looked for work)", "number of job-search tasks in the last 30 days"], "evaluator": "University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and OpenResearch; transfers by GiveDirectly through Propel's Fresh EBT app", "result_reports": ["registered:AEARCTR-0006398_1", "registered:AEARCTR-0006398_2"], "notes": "60,000 of about 400,000 Fresh EBT users in high-poverty zip codes were randomized 1:1 in six strata with re-randomization (Lock and Rubin 2012). Treatment users who logged in from September 14 to 24, 2020 saw a banner inviting them to claim $1,000 (cohorts added over the window); controls saw nothing. About 46,000 logged in during the window and form the study sample (23,068 treatment); only 41.3% of treatment users received the cash (68% of treatment respondents), so tables report LATE as well as ITT, with randomization inference and errors clustered by zip code. Payout through Hyperwallet. No baseline survey; one survey (13,755 respondents: 31% of treatment vs 29% of control), $10 gift card raised to $20 for late responders; treated respondents answered on average 39 days after claiming. Employment, hours and earnings appear in an appendix table. This is the second GiveDirectly COVID cash trial by the same team." }, { "trial": "T86", "eligible": true, "why": "Two Chicago lotteries (the City Department of Housing and The Resurrection Project) gave flat one-time unconditional $1,000 grants paid directly to selected applicants against unselected applicants, and follow-up surveys report a PHQ-4 anxiety item for each lottery.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["Chicago, Illinois"], "population": "Chicago residents applying for COVID-19 emergency grants: DOH (renters and homeowners at risk of eviction, foreclosure or homelessness, pre-pandemic income at most 60% of area median, pandemic income loss) and TRP (income below 300% of the poverty line, not receiving CARES Act aid; undocumented and mixed-status families encouraged)", "years": "2020-04 to 2020-10", "arms": [ {"label": "Chicago DOH: selected by lottery", "kind": "lump_sum", "amount": 1000, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 1537}, {"label": "Chicago DOH: not selected", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 73126}, {"label": "Chicago TRP: selected by lottery", "kind": "lump_sum", "amount": 1000, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 1765}, {"label": "Chicago TRP: not selected", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "once", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 4688} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T86-1", "treated": "Chicago DOH: selected by lottery", "control": "Chicago DOH: not selected", "kind": "lump_sum"}, {"id": "T86-2", "treated": "Chicago TRP: selected by lottery", "control": "Chicago TRP: not selected", "kind": "lump_sum"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": null, "payment_start": "2020-04", "payment_months": null, "waves": [ {"label": "Chicago DOH survey (May-June 2020)", "months_since_first_payment": 1, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["mental_health"]}, {"label": "Chicago TRP survey (February-April 2021)", "months_since_first_payment": 7, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["mental_health"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["PHQ-4 item 'How often have you felt nervous, anxious, or on edge?' over the last week, coded 1 for more than half the days or nearly every day"], "employment_measures": [], "evaluator": "University of Chicago Inclusive Economy Lab with John Eric Humphries and Winnie van Dijk; reported in the four-city study of Collinson, DeFusco, Humphries, Keys, Phillips, Reina, Turner and van Dijk (NBER Working Paper 32463)", "result_reports": ["registered:AEARCTR-0007731_1"], "notes": "Two separate lotteries, each with its own control group. DOH (first round; applications March 27 to April 5, 2020; about 75,700 applications): random ranks, offers in rank order until funds ran out, eligibility checked after selection; 722 grants paid directly to tenants in April-May 2020 (later DOH rounds had no usable control group). TRP Chicago Resiliency Fund (second round, applications from June 22, 2020; 10,300 applications): 1,607 grants paid directly, August-October 2020. n_randomized are the paper's balance-table counts of selected and unselected applicants (maximum counts; the registry gives 1,685 DOH and 1,761 TRP selected). Estimates are TSLS of grant receipt instrumented by selection, with survey weights for unequal response (DOH 41% selected vs 28% not; TRP 31% vs 18%). DOH survey: the month after payment, while some grants were still being paid. TRP survey months computed from the first TRP payments (August 2020). Both programs took renters and homeowners (75-80% renters). Eviction moratoria were in force. Administrative outcomes (Experian credit panel, Infutor address histories, Cook County eviction records, Chicago HMIS homelessness records) have no mental health or employment measures and are not coded as waves. Employment appears only as a pre-lottery subgroup and baseline 'any paid work'. Only the Chicago columns of the four-city paper belong to this trial." }, { "trial": "T92", "eligible": true, "why": "Matched-tuple randomized trial of a flat unconditional $200 a month for 24 months against a $10-a-month control in Anderson, South Carolina, reporting quarterly employment and labor earnings from state records.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["Anderson, South Carolina (Anderson County)"], "population": "Low-income adults (household income at most $60,000) served by Anderson Interfaith Ministries, mostly living in non-urban areas; SSI recipients screened out", "years": "2023-08 to 2025-07", "arms": [ {"label": "Treatment group", "kind": "recurring", "amount": 200, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 24, "n_randomized": 40}, {"label": "Control group", "kind": "control", "amount": 10, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 24, "n_randomized": 53} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T92-1", "treated": "Treatment group", "control": "Control group", "kind": "recurring"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": ["matched four-tuples (Bai 2022) formed on baseline demographics (sex, race, Hispanic, high school degree, home ownership, age, household size) and baseline outcomes (labor force participation, income, poor or fair health, smoking, poverty)"], "payment_start": "2023-08", "payment_months": 24, "waves": [ {"label": "Quarter 1 after first deposit (2023 Q4), state records", "months_since_first_payment": 3, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["employment", "earnings"]}, {"label": "Quarter 2 (2024 Q1), shorter term, state records", "months_since_first_payment": 6, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["employment", "earnings"]}, {"label": "Quarter 3 (2024 Q2), state records", "months_since_first_payment": 9, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["employment", "earnings"]}, {"label": "Quarter 4 (2024 Q3), state records", "months_since_first_payment": 12, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["employment", "earnings"]}, {"label": "Phone follow-up (October 2024, about 2024 Q3)", "months_since_first_payment": 12, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["employment"]}, {"label": "Quarter 5 (2024 Q4), longer term, state records", "months_since_first_payment": 15, "during_payments": true, "measures": ["employment", "earnings"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": [], "employment_measures": ["employed in the quarter (any taxed wages or tips in South Carolina Department of Employment and Workforce records)", "monthly earnings from labor income (state records)", "employment and income from all sources, taxed and untaxed (phone interview about 2024 Q3)", "labor force participation (baseline survey)"], "evaluator": "Jorge Luis García (Texas A&M University), Patrick L. Warren and L. Reed Watson (Clemson University, John E. Walker Department of Economics), with Anderson Interfaith Ministries and Spero Financial", "result_reports": ["registered:AEARCTR-0014466_1"], "notes": "Both arms got free Spero credit-union accounts with debit cards, into which deposits were made monthly from August 25, 2023 ($200 treatment, $10 control), so the control's $10 is a token and account access is common to both arms. Existing benefits were not protected (no discernible effect on SNAP or TANF). 100 enrolled at AIM in May-June 2023; 7 who did not activate their debit card were excluded before randomization; 93 randomized within 23 matched tuples (40 treatment, 53 control). Quarter 0 (2023 Q3) is used as baseline although it includes about one month of payments. Results so far run to five quarters after the first deposit (bank data to 19 months); payments continue to July 2025 and later quarters are promised. Employment means any taxed wages or tips in the quarter (unemployment and non-participation not distinguished); results are plotted for every quarter, with tests reported at quarters 2 and 5 and p-values for each quarter's employment difference. Phone interviews in October 2024 reached 42 (40 with data) about 2024 Q3 employment and all-source income, as a check on the records. Hospital visits, medical spending, SNAP/TANF, criminal records and bank data are not coded as waves. No mental health outcome is reported. An earlier registration (AEARCTR-0008509, 2021) planned a 40/60 design with a $10 monthly honorarium for controls and mental health questions in the baseline survey." }, { "trial": "T111", "eligible": true, "why": "Randomized trial among people experiencing homelessness of $750 a month for 12 months plus a phone-buddy program against the phone-buddy program alone (and a waitlist), with employment status reported at follow-up.", "country": "United States", "sites": ["San Francisco Bay Area (San Francisco, Oakland)", "Los Angeles County"], "population": "English-speaking adults experiencing homelessness (HUD definition) who expressed interest in the Miracle Friends phone-buddy program", "years": "2022 to 2024", "arms": [ {"label": "Miracle Money", "kind": "recurring", "amount": 750, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 12, "n_randomized": 256}, {"label": "Miracle Friends", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 267}, {"label": "Waitlist", "kind": "control", "amount": 0, "currency": "USD", "per": "month", "months_paid": 0, "n_randomized": 237} ], "comparisons": [ {"id": "T111-1", "treated": "Miracle Money", "control": "Miracle Friends", "kind": "recurring"} ], "randomization": "individual", "stratified_by": null, "payment_start": null, "payment_months": 12, "waves": [ {"label": "3-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 3, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "6-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 6, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "9-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 9, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "12-month survey", "months_since_first_payment": 12, "during_payments": true, "measures": []}, {"label": "15-month survey (final follow-up)", "months_since_first_payment": 15, "during_payments": false, "measures": ["employment"]} ], "mental_health_instruments": ["PROMIS Scale 1.2 global health item (self-rated mental health, excellent to poor)"], "employment_measures": ["employment status (employed full-time, 35+ hours a week; part-time; unemployed looking or not looking for work; retired), from Los Angeles Homeless Count questions"], "evaluator": "University of Southern California, Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, Center for Homelessness, Housing and Health Equity Research (Benjamin Henwood), with Miracle Messages", "result_reports": ["registered:NCT05408884_1", "registered:NCT05408884_3"], "notes": "People were recruited for the Miracle Friends phone-buddy program without being told about cash; those assigned to Miracle Money were told only after they began engaging with their phone buddy, so 103 of the 256 assigned received payments (about $1 million in 2022-2024; no ongoing conditions are described once payments began). Two-stage randomization: 523 to Miracle Friends vs 237 to the waitlist, then 256 of the 523 to Miracle Money as well (registry enrollment 759). The reports' main contrast, Miracle Money vs waitlist, confounds cash with the phone-buddy program, so the comparison coded is Miracle Money vs Miracle Friends, whose arms differ only by the cash; results are shown for all three groups. Reported analyses are not ITT: the final report compares participants who completed the study and received an intervention (Miracle Money n=88, Miracle Friends n=40, waitlist n=107), with chart numbers garbled by OCR, and the SSWR 2026 abstract reports 25% employed at follow-up with no differences between groups. The follow-up at which employment is reported is not named; it is coded as the last (15-month) survey. The November 2023 interim report (registered:NCT05408884_2) compares 69 recipients with at least 6 payments to 86 waitlisted at 6 months on housing and unmet needs only. Survey months count from baseline; payment start dates are not reported beyond recruitment beginning in May 2022. $30 per survey for all. Self-rated mental health was measured but no result is reported; loneliness (UCLA 3-item) and substance use are reported. Qualitative interviews with recipients near notification and at the end of the year are not coded as waves." } ]