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The EITC: Expectation, Knowledge, Use, and Economic and Social Mobility

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  • Smeeding, Timothy M.
  • Phillips, Katherin Ross
  • O’Connor, Michael

Abstract

This paper presents our findings on the knowledge and use of the 1997 Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) based on a sample of Chicago area households, with children, that filed tax returns in the winter and spring of 1998. Respondents reported in detail about using their federal tax refunds (including the EITC) to pay bills, purchase new items, or save. Data were also gathered on respondents’ prior knowledge of the EITC and their ability to make particular expenditures without the help of the EITC. Uses of the EITC are divided into those that improve economic and social mobility (e.g., purchase a car, pay tuition, change residence) and those that primarily help to make ends meet (e.g., pay routine bills, purchase food). This is among the first papers to address these issues, despite the fact that the EITC is our largest refundable tax credit program targeted at low-income families.

Suggested Citation

  • Smeeding, Timothy M. & Phillips, Katherin Ross & O’Connor, Michael, 2000. "The EITC: Expectation, Knowledge, Use, and Economic and Social Mobility," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 53(4), pages 1187-1210, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:ntj:journl:v:53:y:2000:i:4:p:1187-210
    DOI: 10.17310/ntj.2000.4S1.07
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    Cited by:

    1. Nicole Simpson & Devin Reilly & Kartik Athreya, 2010. "The Earned Income Tax Credit: Insurance Without Disincentives?," 2010 Meeting Papers 1103, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    2. Nada Eissa & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2006. "Behavioral Responses to Taxes: Lessons from the EITC and Labor Supply," NBER Chapters, in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 20, pages 73-110, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Congdon, William J. & Kling, Jeffrey R. & Mullainathan, Sendhil, 2009. "Behavioral Economics and Tax Policy," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 62(3), pages 375-386, September.
    4. Katie Fitzpatrick, 2015. "Does “Banking the Unbanked” Help Families to Save? Evidence from the United Kingdom," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 223-249, March.
    5. Branko Milanovic & Sean Higgins & Nora Lustig & Whitney Ruble & Timothy M. Smeeding, 2016. "Comparing the Incidence of Taxes and Social Spending in Brazil and the United States," Review of Income and Wealth, International Association for Research in Income and Wealth, vol. 62, pages 22-46, August.
    6. Muennig, Peter & Franks, Peter & Jia, Haomiao & Lubetkin, Erica & Gold, Marthe R, 2005. "The income-associated burden of disease in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(9), pages 2018-2026, November.
    7. Karen Z. Kramer & Flávia Cristina Drumond Andrade & Andrew J. Greenlee & Ruby Mendenhall & Dylan Bellisle & Renee Lemons Blanks, 2019. "Periodic Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Payment, Financial Stress and Wellbeing: A Longitudinal Study," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 511-523, September.
    8. Carol Osler & Thang Nguyen & Tanseli Savaser, 2011. "Asymmetric Information and the Foreign-Exchange Trades of Global Custody Banks," Department of Economics Working Papers 2011-09, Department of Economics, Williams College.
    9. Boyd-Swan, Casey & Herbst, Chris M. & Ifcher, John & Zarghamee, Homa, 2016. "The earned income tax credit, mental health, and happiness," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 126(PA), pages 18-38.
    10. Mike Brewer, 2000. "Comparing in-work benefits and financial work incentives for low-income families in the US and the UK," IFS Working Papers W00/16, Institute for Fiscal Studies.
    11. Jonathan Fisher & Bradley L. Hardy, 2023. "Money matters: consumption variability across the income distribution," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 44(3), pages 275-298, September.
    12. Aida Farmand & Owen Davis, 2021. "Who Does the Earned Income Tax Credit Benefit? A Monopsony View," SCEPA working paper series. 2021-02, Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis (SCEPA), The New School.
    13. Nicole Simpson & Jill Tiefenthaler & Jameson Hyde, 2010. "The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit on Economic Well-Being: A Comparison Across Household Types," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 29(6), pages 843-864, December.
    14. Nada Eissa & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2006. "Behavioral Responses to Taxes: Lessons from the EITC and Labor Supply," NBER Chapters,in: Tax Policy and the Economy, Volume 20, pages 73-110 National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Mills, Gregory & Gale, William G. & Patterson, Rhiannon & Engelhardt, Gary V. & Eriksen, Michael D. & Apostolov, Emil, 2008. "Effects of individual development accounts on asset purchases and saving behavior: Evidence from a controlled experiment," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(5-6), pages 1509-1530, June.
    16. Donald P. Hirasuna & Thomas F. Stinson, 2007. "Urban and Rural Differences in Use of Earned Income Credits: A Study of Minnesota's Working Family Credit," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 30(4), pages 408-448, October.
    17. Jonathan Fisher & David H. Rehkopf, 2022. "The Earned Income Tax Credit as supplementary food benefits and savings for durable goods," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 40(3), pages 439-455, July.
    18. Brian Baugh & Itzhak Ben-David & Hoonsuk Park & Jonathan A. Parker, 2021. "Asymmetric Consumption Smoothing," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(1), pages 192-230, January.
    19. Berger, Lawrence M. & Collins, J. Michael & Smeeding, Timothy M., 2015. "Exiting or retaining owner-occupied housing in the United States 1999–2009: How do social programs matter?," Children and Youth Services Review, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 112-126.
    20. Brady-Smith, Christy & Brooks-Gunn, Jeanne & Waldfogel, Jane & Fauth, Rebecca, 2001. "Work or welfare? Assessing the impacts of recent employment and policy changes on very young children," Evaluation and Program Planning, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 409-425, November.
    21. Kyoung Tae Kim & Melissa J. Wilmarth, 2016. "Government Subsidies and Household Debt Burden After the Great Recession," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 349-358, September.
    22. Manturuk, Kim & Dorrance, Jessica & Riley, Sarah, 2012. "Factors affecting completion of a matched savings program: Impacts of time preference, discount rate, and financial hardship," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 41(6), pages 836-842.
    23. Dayanand S. Manoli & Nicholas Turner, 2014. "Nudges and Learning: Evidence from Informational Interventions for Low-Income Taxpayers," NBER Working Papers 20718, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. Hirasuna, Donald P. & Stinson, Thomas F., 2004. "Urban And Rural Differences In Utilization Of State Earned Income Tax Credit Programs: Minnesota'S Experience," Working Papers 18912, Oregon State University, Rural Poverty Research Center (RPRC).
    25. H. Shaefer & Xiaoqing Song & Trina Williams Shanks, 2013. "Do single mothers in the United States use the Earned Income Tax Credit to reduce unsecured debt?," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(4), pages 659-680, December.

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