Tax Code Knowledge and Behavioral Responses Among EITC Recipients: Policy Insights from Qualitative Data

Edin, Katharine; Tach, Laura; Halpern‐Meekin, Sarah

doi:10.1002/pam.21739

Cited by 34 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 53 publications

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“…Qualitative evidence on the EITC indicates that recipients tend to view and spend the lump sum differently than they do their usual income. 42,43 They also use the lump sum to make larger purchases and invest in durable goods. 44 How this translates into health improvements in the longer term should be the subject of future research.…”

Section: Exhibitmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Health Effects Of Expanding The Earned Income Tax Credit: Results From New York City

et al. 2020

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Antipoverty policies may hold promise as tools to improve health and reduce mortality rates among low-income Americans. We examined the health effects of the New York City Paycheck Plus randomized controlled trial. Paycheck Plus tests the impact of a potential fourfold increase in the Earned Income Tax Credit for low-income Americans without dependent children. Starting in 2015, Paycheck Plus offered 5,968 study participants a credit of up to $2,000 at tax time (treatment) or the standard credit of about $500 (control). Health-related quality of life and other outcomes for a representative subset of these participants (n = 3,289) were compared to those of a control group thirty-two months after randomization. The intervention had a modest positive effect on employment and earnings, particularly among women. It had no effect on health-related quality of life for the overall sample, but women realized significant improvements.

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Section: Exhibitmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Health Effects Of Expanding The Earned Income Tax Credit: Results From New York City

et al. 2020

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“…Among current policies, the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) often serves as a de facto emergency savings vehicle for poor families. Families use the credit, which is delivered as a once yearly lump‐sum, for a variety of purposes including placing a portion in savings (Edin, Tach, & Halpern‐Meekin, ; Mendenhall et al, ; Romich & Weisner, ). Examinations of bank records from EITC recipients who participated in a savings incentive program showed that many who put funds into savings spent the funds down within 4 months (Beverly, Tescher, Romich, & Marzahl, ).…”

Section: How Policies and Programs Could Reduce Or Moderate Economic mentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening Social Programs to Promote Economic Stability During Childhood

Hardy

Hill

Romich

2019

Social Policy Report

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Economic instability has increased in recent decades and is higher for families with low incomes and Black families. Such instability is thought to be driven primarily by precarious work and unstable family structure. In addition, the social safety net has become less of a stabilizing force for low‐income families, in part because benefits are often tied to employment and earnings. Too much change in economic circumstances may disrupt investments in children, parenting practices, and family routines—particularly if the economic changes are unpredictable, undesired, or not part of upward mobility. Given the considerable evidence that economic circumstances affect child health and development, economic stability can and should be an important goal of multiple policy domains. In this report, we describe economic instability, review the pertinent theories for considering how economic instability might matter to children, and describe ideas for policies that could reduce or moderate instability. We include policies that reduce instability in earnings, use public assistance to stabilize income or reduce material hardship, or enhance parents' capacity to deal with or avoid instability.

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“…Substantial research has explored the work incentive and other behavioral effects of the EITC. See Dickert‐Conlin, Houser, and Scholz (); Hotz and Scholz (, ); Hoynes and Eissa (); Hoynes (); Blank, Danziger, and Schoeni (); Edin, Tach, and Halpern‐Meekin (); and Neumark ().…”

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confidence: 99%

The War on Poverty: Measurement, Trends, and Policy

Haveman¹,

Blank²,

Moffitt³

et al. 2015

J Policy Anal Manage

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We present a 50‐year historical perspective of the nation's antipoverty efforts, describing the evolution of policy during four key periods since 1965. Over this half‐century, the initial heavy reliance on cash income support to poor families has eroded; increases in public support came largely in the form of in‐kind (e.g., Food Stamps) and tax‐related (e.g., the Earned Income Tax Credit) benefits. Work support and the supplementation of earnings substituted for direct support. These shifts eroded the safety net for the most disadvantaged in American society. Three poverty‐related analytical developments are also described. The rise of the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM)—taking account of noncash and tax‐related benefits—has corrected some of the serious weaknesses of the official poverty measure (OPM). The SPM measure indicates that the poverty rate has declined over time, rather than being essentially flat as the OPM implies. We also present snapshots of the composition of the poor population in the United States using both the OPM and the SPM, showing progress in reducing poverty overall and among specific socioeconomic subgroups since the beginning of the War on Poverty. Finally, we document the expenditure levels of numerous antipoverty programs that have accompanied the several phases of poverty policy and describe the effect of these efforts on the level of poverty. Although the effectiveness of government antipoverty transfers is debated, our findings indicate that the growth of antipoverty policies has reduced the overall level of poverty, with substantial reductions among the elderly, disabled, and blacks. However, the poverty rates for children, especially those living in single‐parent families, and families headed by a low‐skill, low‐education person, have increased. Rates of deep poverty (families living with less than one‐half of the poverty line) for the nonelderly population have not decreased, reflecting both the increasing labor market difficulties faced by the low‐skill population and the tilt of means‐tested benefits away from the poorest of the poor.

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Tax Code Knowledge and Behavioral Responses Among EITC Recipients: Policy Insights from Qualitative Data

Cited by 34 publications

References 53 publications

The Health Effects Of Expanding The Earned Income Tax Credit: Results From New York City

The Health Effects Of Expanding The Earned Income Tax Credit: Results From New York City

Strengthening Social Programs to Promote Economic Stability During Childhood

The War on Poverty: Measurement, Trends, and Policy

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