اثربخشی و محدودیت های اعتبار مالیاتی درآمد کسب شده برای کاهش فقر کودکان در ایالات متحده

Based on international comparisons, the United States has a high child poverty rate. The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which provides a tax benefit to low-income working households and was expanded after the 1990s welfare reform, is currently this country's largest cash transfer program for low-income families with children. This article examines the historical components of the EITC. We then analyze the program's child poverty reduction effectiveness by comparing the percent and percentage point declines in the child poverty rate accounted for by the EITC benefit for six years between 1996 and 2005. Figures for the first four years were drawn from previous studies, while figures for the final two years were estimated with a U.S. Census Bureau calculator. All of the analyses used Current Population Survey data. We determined that the percent decline in the child poverty rate attributed to the EITC generally increased during this period (highest percent was 19.5 in 2005), while the percentage point decline remained relatively stable. We then critically examine four poverty reduction assumptions of the EITC that limit its ability to further reduce child poverty and draw social policy implications.

Among wealthy nations, the United States (U.S.) has the unenviable recognition of having an exceptionally high child poverty rate. Using a relative definition of poverty (defined for each country as below half of the median equivalent after-tax income, including cash and near-cash government benefits), a recent report on 13 of the 30 members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) revealed that 21.9% of U.S. children live in poverty. This poverty rate is surpassed only by Mexico's 27.7%, is 24% higher than the next highest rate of Italy, and compares particularly unfavorably with Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden), all of which have child poverty rates under 4.3% (UNICEF, 2005). Even measured by the federal government's official absolute poverty definition (defines a child as poor if the family's gross cash income, excluding non-cash government benefits and tax credits, falls below the relevant threshold based on families of various sizes and composition), 18% of U.S. children live in poverty (U.S. Census Bureau, 2008).