Background
The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) encourages people in low-income households to stay in education. It was abolished in England but continues in the Rest of the UK (RUK). We investigated if the abolition of the EMA was associated with psychological distress using a difference-in-difference design.

Methods
The sample of 1,328 observations were drawn from Understanding Society participants aged 16/17 at the start of academic the 2009 to 2018 years and in the bottom income decile. Exposure to EMA policy regime was identified using an interaction between UK area (RUK vs England) and EMA policy period. The 2009/2010 Academic years indicated the EMA Period, 2011 the transition period (when EMA receipt was limited to existing recipients), and 2012-2018 post-EMA. The primary outcome was the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) score ranging 0-36. Other outcomes include the SF-12 mental component summary and a physical health falsification outcome. Linear regression using robust standard errors, adjusting for sex and month of interview, was conducted.

Results
In England, relative to RUK and the EMA period, the transition period (Coef 4.20; 95%CI 1.12 to 7.28) and the post EMA period (Coef 2.89; 95%CI 0.67 to 5.11) were associated with worse GHQ-12 scores. Results for other mental health outcomes were similar, with no associations with the falsification outcome.

Conclusions
Young people living in low-income households in England appeared to have worse mental health following the removal of the EMA, compared to RUK. However, it is not possible to rule out the potential contribution of cointerventions.

Co-authors

Dr Andrew Baxter; Professor Vittal Katikireddi, University of Glasgow