The health benefits of a targeted cash transfer: The UK winter fuel payment

Arbeitspapier

Each year the UK records 25,000 or more excess winter deaths, primarily among the elderly. A key policy response is the 'Winter Fuel Payment' (WFP), a labelled but unconditional cash transfer to households with a member above the Female State Pension Age. The WFP has been shown to raise fuel spending among eligible households. We examine the causal effect of the WFP on health outcomes, including self-reports of chest infection, measured hypertension and biomarkers of infection and inflammation. We find a robust and statistically significant six percentage point reduction in the incidence of high levels of serum fibrinogen. Reductions in other disease markers point to health benefits, but the estimated effects are not robustly statistically significant.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: IFS Working Papers ; No. W17/23

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; National Government Expenditures and Health ; Health Behavior
• Subject: benefits ; health ; biomarkers ; heating ; regression discontinuity

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Crossley, Thomas F. ; Zilio, Federico
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS)
• (where): London
• (when): 2017

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/200283
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:43 AM CET