In this brief, we examine how Social Security proposals could eliminate poverty and relative poverty (defined as having low income relative to average wages in the economy) for older adults and people who receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. We add a basic minimum benefit to...
Postsecondary education can be a critical step toward financial independence. Total college costs in California may present an extraordinary financial burden. For students with incomes under $30,000 in California, the cost of attendance at public universities (after accounting for existing grant...
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides substantial support for working families with low and moderate incomes, including those who may participate in traditional safety net programs, such as TANF. Based on incomes in 2019, the Tax Policy Center...
Pervading the history and tax laws applying to foundations is a persistent suspicion of the wealthy and of concentrated power, while the battles between foundations and Congress largely center on who has control over the uses of wealth. Foundation laws, and by extension, laws proposed or enacted...
Workers without children living at home, called “childless” for tax purposes, are eligible for relatively small benefits from the earned income tax credit (EITC). We analyze the effect of increasing the EITC for this group and extending benefits to workers ages 19 and older, rather than...
The universal earned income tax credit is a worker subsidy designed to offset wage stagnation. The base proposal would replace existing subsidies for working families with a refundable 100 percent tax credit on individual wages up to $10,000 and a larger, refundable child tax credit. The maximum...
This paper examines the effect on retirement rates at ages 62 to 65 of the increase in Social Security’s full retirement age and the associated decrease in benefits that began in 2000. We use a parametric and nonparametric difference-in-difference approach and monthly Current...
How much has the COVID-19 pandemic changed America’s fiscal future and affected President-elect Biden’s opportunity to set a new course for fiscal policy? Largely as a consequence of the pandemic, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in September projected a deficit of more than $3 trillion for...
States saw steep declines in revenues in the second quarter of 2020, though some of this was caused by shifting revenues into the next quarter and next fiscal year. Consequently, most states ended fiscal year 2020 uncertain about their fiscal bottom line. Many states cut...
Postsecondary education can be a critical step on the path toward economic independence, but many low-income students who are independent for tax purposes face tremendous financial difficulties when trying to complete postsecondary school. Extending the Economic Security Project’s cost-of-living...
First Things First: How Social Security Reform Can Eliminate Elderly Poverty
In this brief, we examine how Social Security proposals could eliminate poverty and relative poverty (defined as having low income relative to average wages in the economy) for older adults and people who receive Social Security Disability Insurance benefits. We add a basic minimum benefit to...
Extending the California Earned Income Tax Credit to Postsecondary Students
Postsecondary education can be a critical step toward financial independence. Total college costs in California may present an extraordinary financial burden. For students with incomes under $30,000 in California, the cost of attendance at public universities (after accounting for existing grant...
The Earned Income Tax Credit: Program Outcomes, Payment Timing, and Next Steps for Research
Introduction
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provides substantial support for working families with low and moderate incomes, including those who may participate in traditional safety net programs, such as TANF. Based on incomes in 2019, the Tax Policy Center...
Taxes and Foundations: A 50th Anniversary Overview
Pervading the history and tax laws applying to foundations is a persistent suspicion of the wealthy and of concentrated power, while the battles between foundations and Congress largely center on who has control over the uses of wealth. Foundation laws, and by extension, laws proposed or enacted...
Options to Increase the EITC for Workers Without Children at Home
Workers without children living at home, called “childless” for tax purposes, are eligible for relatively small benefits from the earned income tax credit (EITC). We analyze the effect of increasing the EITC for this group and extending benefits to workers ages 19 and older, rather than...
A Universal EITC: Making Work Pay in the Age of Automation
The universal earned income tax credit is a worker subsidy designed to offset wage stagnation. The base proposal would replace existing subsidies for working families with a refundable 100 percent tax credit on individual wages up to $10,000 and a larger, refundable child tax credit. The maximum...
The Effect of Early Claiming Benefit Reduction on Retirement Rates
This paper examines the effect on retirement rates at ages 62 to 65 of the increase in Social Security’s full retirement age and the associated decrease in benefits that began in 2000. We use a parametric and nonparametric difference-in-difference approach and monthly Current...
The Pandemic and President-Elect Biden’s Opportunity to Chart a New Course
How much has the COVID-19 pandemic changed America’s fiscal future and affected President-elect Biden’s opportunity to set a new course for fiscal policy? Largely as a consequence of the pandemic, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in September projected a deficit of more than $3 trillion for...
State Tax and Economic Review, 2020 Quarter 2
States saw steep declines in revenues in the second quarter of 2020, though some of this was caused by shifting revenues into the next quarter and next fiscal year. Consequently, most states ended fiscal year 2020 uncertain about their fiscal bottom line. Many states cut...
Extending the Earned Income Tax Credit to Students: A Comparison of Aid Policies
Postsecondary education can be a critical step on the path toward economic independence, but many low-income students who are independent for tax purposes face tremendous financial difficulties when trying to complete postsecondary school. Extending the Economic Security Project’s cost-of-living...