Building Stability: A Home-Visiting Financial Education Supplement to Enhance Family Well-Being

Abstract The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Access Project delivered intensive, one-on-one home visiting in combination with financial empowerment and education surrounding the EITC in the State of Michigan. Given prior research demonstrating an inverse association between EITC receipt and adverse childhood experiences, the present qualitative study examined parents’ perceptions of the program and its potential impact on promoting family well-being through financial empowerment. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 32 parents of children aged between one and 16 years old. Participants were asked a series of questions regarding their uptake of the EITC and changes in their financial circumstances, focusing on what ways it may have impacted their family and their parenting. Thematic analysis revealed multiple areas of family well-being were enhanced through the EITC Access Project, including social connection, family-focused purchases, stress management, family cohesion, shared financial knowledge and values, and multigenerational financial empowerment. These findings suggest that increasing access to the EITC and providing financial education, in combination with evidence-based home visiting, may address immediate financial needs as well as longer-term family well-being through the development of financial knowledge and parental empowerment.