Using the EITC to Help Poor Families: New Evidence and a Comparision with the Minimum Wage / David Neumark, William Wascher.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Neumark, David.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Wascher, William.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w7599.

NBER working paper series no. w7599

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Other Title:

Using the EITC to Help Poor Families

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2000.

Summary:

This paper evaluates the effects of the earned income tax credit (EITC) on poor families. Exploiting state-level variation in EITCs, we find that the EITC helps families rise above poverty-level earnings. This occurs by inducing labor market entry in families that initially do not have an adult in the workforce. Evidence based on the federal EITC is less supportive of a positive impact of the EITC on poor families. Finally, our results suggest that for the range of policy changes typical of recent history in the U.S., the EITC is more beneficial for poor families than is the minimum wage.

Notes:

Print version record

March 2000.