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.
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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
7599.
Length: Date of creation: Mar 2000 Date of revision: Publication status: published as Neumark, David and William Wascher. "State-Level Estimates Of Minimum Wage Effects: New Evidence And Interpretations From Disequilibrium Methods," Journal of Human Resources, 2002, v37(1,Winter), 35-62. Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:7599
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Find related papers by JEL classification: J39 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Other I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
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Richard Blundell & Hilary W. Hoynes, 2004.
"Has 'In-Work' Benefit Reform Helped the Labor Market?,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980-2000, pages 411-460
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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