When pay is unstable: effects on stress, blood pressure, and cellular aging
Official title: Unstable Income, Rising Stress? The Effects of Income Instability on Psychological and Physiological Health
Funded at Cornell University · NIH-11398357 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This project changes how and when low-income adults in southwestern Bangladesh get paid to learn whether unpredictable income raises stress, worsens mood, and harms physical health.
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) | $69,822 |
| NIH project number | 3R01AG076655-04S3 |
| Project ID | NIH-11398357 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal participants are adults living in low-income households in southwestern Bangladesh who experience unstable or unpredictable earnings.
✕Less likely to help
People with steady, predictable incomes or who do not live in the study region would not be eligible and unlikely to benefit directly from participation.
What this research studies
If you join, researchers will enroll adults from low-income households in southwestern Bangladesh and vary the timing and predictability of payments you receive. They will collect surveys about mood and anxiety, measure stress biomarkers (like cortisol), take blood pressure readings, and collect samples to look for signs of cellular aging. The team will compare predictable versus unpredictable income patterns and also compare changes in predictability with changes in average pay. They will examine whether age, gender, or prior mental health change how income patterns affect health.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, the results could show that stabilizing income reduces stress and improves mood and physical markers such as blood pressure and cellular aging, informing policies and programs to protect health.
How similar studies have gone: Previous cash-transfer and income-support trials have improved mental health and some physical measures, but experiments that deliberately change income predictability and measure physiological aging are relatively new.
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.