Our comprehensive review and meta- analysis of these experiments find suggestive evidence of health benefits associated with investments in early life , income support , and health insurance interventions .
Housing and neighborhood trials had no effect on the outcomes included in the meta-analyses .
A positive effect of the trial on its primary socioeconomic outcome was associated with higher odds of reporting health improvements .
Early life , income , and health insurance interventions have the potential to improve health .
Policy Points Social policies might not only improve economic well-being , but also health .
Health policy experts have therefore advocated for investments in social policies both to improve population health and potentially reduce health system costs .
Since the 1960s , a large number of social policies have been experimentally evaluated in the United States .
Some of these experiments include health outcomes , providing a unique opportunity to inform evidence -based policymaking .
CONTEXT Insurers and health care providers are investing heavily in nonmedical social interventions in an effort to improve health and potentially reduce health care costs .
The Effect of Class Size in Grades K-3 on Adult Earnings, Employment, and Disability Status: Evidence from a Multi-center Randomized Controlled Trial
Background . Early education interventions have been forwarded as a means for reducing social disparities in income and health in adulthood . We explore whether a successful early education intervention , which occurred between 1985 and 1989 , improved the employment rates , earnings and health of blacks relative to whites through 2008 . Methods . We used data from Project STAR ( Student Teacher Achievement Ratio ) , a four-year multi-center r and omized controlled trial of reduced class sizes in Tennessee involving 11,601 students . Students were initially r and omized within 79 schools to classes with 22 - 25 or 13 - 17 students . We linked subject records to Social Security Administration ( SSA ) earnings and disability data collected between 1997 and 2008—when the majority of subjects were between the ages of 18 and 28 . We focused our analysis on annual , rather than cumulative , measures of earnings and employment because educational attainment after high school might reduce earnings through age 23 . We considered three or more years of statistically significant positive ( or negative ) annual impacts to be a meaningful effect . Results . Project STAR improved cognition and high school graduation rates . These benefits were primarily realized among low-income and minority students . These early education benefits did not translate into reduced disability cl aims in adulthood for treated subjects . However , exposure to small class size increased employment for blacks , and increased earnings for black males ( p<0.05 ) . Exposure to small classes also led to an increase in earnings for white males . However , white females exposed to small classes experienced a net decline in earnings and employment across the later years of follow up ( p<0.05 ) , off setting any gains by white males . Conclusions . Exposure to small class size in grade s K-3 appears to improve earnings and employment for black males and earnings for white males , while reducing employment and earnings among white females
Our comprehensive review and meta- analysis of these experiments find suggestive evidence of health benefits associated with investments in early life , income support , and health insurance interventions .
Housing and neighborhood trials had no effect on the outcomes included in the meta-analyses .
A positive effect of the trial on its primary socioeconomic outcome was associated with higher odds of reporting health improvements .
Early life , income , and health insurance interventions have the potential to improve health .
Policy Points Social policies might not only improve economic well-being , but also health .
Health policy experts have therefore advocated for investments in social policies both to improve population health and potentially reduce health system costs .
Since the 1960s , a large number of social policies have been experimentally evaluated in the United States .
Some of these experiments include health outcomes , providing a unique opportunity to inform evidence -based policymaking .
CONTEXT Insurers and health care providers are investing heavily in nonmedical social interventions in an effort to improve health and potentially reduce health care costs .