How unpredictable pay affects stress and long-term health
Official title: Unstable Income, Rising Stress? The Effects of Income Instability on Psychological and Physiological Health
Funded at Cornell University · NIH-11398356 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project tests whether unpredictable, unstable income harms the mental and physical health of low-income adults in southwestern Bangladesh.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | Cornell University NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Ithaca, United States) |
| Project start | March 7, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2027 |
| Funding year | 2025 |
| Award (this year) | $36,936 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG076655-04S2 |
| Project ID | NIH-11398356 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Adults with low and unstable incomes living in the study area of southwestern Bangladesh would be the ideal participants.
✕Less likely to help
People with stable incomes, those who do not live in the study region, or those without low socioeconomic risk may not receive direct benefit from this project.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will work with low-income adults in southwestern Bangladesh and deliberately change how steady your payments are to see what happens. They will track mood and mental health (like depression and anxiety), stress hormones such as cortisol, blood pressure, and markers of cellular aging. The team will compare predictable versus unpredictable payment schedules, look at whether simply raising average income has different effects, and study pathways like spending, sleep, and other behaviors. They will also check whether effects differ by age, gender, or pre-existing mental health.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the findings could show that stabilizing incomes improves mental and physical health and support policies that reduce income volatility.
How similar studies have gone: Previous cash transfer trials have found health and wellbeing gains, but randomized tests specifically manipulating income instability are relatively novel.
Where this research is happening
-
Cornell University
Ithaca, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Schofield, Heather — Cornell University
- Study coordinator: Schofield, Heather
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.