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Making Work Pay: Changes in Effective Tax Rates and Guarantees in U.S. Transfer Programs, 1983–2002

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  • James P. Ziliak

Abstract

In the 1990s, many states liberalized statutory rules regarding the tax treatment of earned and unearned income for welfare program eligibility and benefit levels. I use quality control data from the AFDC/TANF program over 1983–2002 to document changes in the corresponding effective tax rates and benefit guarantees. After welfare reform I find that effective tax rates fell by 50 percent on earned income and by at least 70 percent on unearned income. States that aggressively reformed their welfare programs, especially those that implemented a stringent sanctions policy on benefits, experienced more rapid reductions in effective tax rates and guarantees.

Suggested Citation

  • James P. Ziliak, 2007. "Making Work Pay: Changes in Effective Tax Rates and Guarantees in U.S. Transfer Programs, 1983–2002," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 42(3).
    • Handle: RePEc:uwp:jhriss:v:42:y:2007:i3:p619-642
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Hoynes, Hilary Williamson, 1996. "Welfare Transfers in Two-Parent Families: Labor Supply and Welfare Participation under AFDC-UP," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 64(2), pages 295-332, March.
    2. Fraker, Thomas & Moffitt, Robert, 1988. "The effect of food stamps on labor supply : A bivariate selection model," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(1), pages 25-56, February.
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    4. David T. Ellwood, 1999. "The Impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit and Social Policy Reforms on Work, Marriage, and Living Arrangements," JCPR Working Papers 124, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    5. Terra McKinnish & Seth Sanders & Jeffrey Smith, 1999. "Estimates of Effective Guarantees and Tax Rates in the AFDC Program for the Post-OBRA Period," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(2), pages 312-345.
    6. Thomas MaCurdy & David Green & Harry Paarsch, 1990. "Assessing Empirical Approaches for Analyzing Taxes and Labor Supply," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 25(3), pages 415-490.
    7. repec:fth:stanho:e-90-11 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Robert A. Moffitt, 1979. "Cumulative Effective Tax Rates and Guarantees in Low-Income Transfer Programs," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 14(1), pages 122-129.
    9. repec:hoo:wpaper:e-90-11 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Thomas Fraker & Robert Moffitt & Douglas Wolf, 1985. "Effective Tax Rates and Guarantees in the AFDC Program, 1967-1982," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 20(2), pages 251-263.
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    Cited by:

    1. Robert A. Moffitt & Matthew V. Zahn, 2019. "The Marginal Labor Supply Disincentives of Welfare: Evidence from Administrative Barriers to Participation," NBER Working Papers 26028, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Jean Knab & Irv Garfinkel & Sara McLanahan & Emily Moiduddin & Cynthia Osborne, 2008. "The Effects of Welfare and Child Support Policies on the Timing and Incidence of Marriage Following a Nonmarital Birth," Working Papers 898, Princeton University, School of Public and International Affairs, Center for Research on Child Wellbeing..
    3. Gunter, Samara, 2013. "State Earned Income Tax Credits and Participation in Regular and Informal Work," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(1), pages 33-62, March.
    4. Robert Paul Hartley & Carlos Lamarche & James P. Ziliak, 2022. "Welfare Reform and the Intergenerational Transmission of Dependence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 130(3), pages 523-565.
    5. repec:pri:crcwel:wp11-03-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Jeremy A. Cook & John Stuart Rabon, 2018. "Maternal investments and child cognitive achievement," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 38(3), pages 1632-1654.
    7. repec:pri:crcwel:wp07-10-ff is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Melanie Guldi & Lucie Schmidt, 2017. "Taxes, Transfers, and Women’s Labor Supply in the United States," Working Papers 2017-01, University of Central Florida, Department of Economics.
    9. Gunter, Samara, 2013. "State Earned Income Tax Credits and Participation in Regular and Informal Work," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 66(1), pages 33-62, March.
    10. Erik Hembre, 2023. "Examining SNAP and TANF caseload trends, responsiveness, and policies during the COVID‐19 pandemic," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 262-281, April.
    11. Samara Gunter, 2013. "Effects of child support pass-through and disregard policies on in-kind child support," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 11(2), pages 193-209, June.
    12. Charles J. Courtemanche & James Marton & Aaron Yelowitz, 2019. "Medicaid Coverage across the Income Distribution under the Affordable Care Act," NBER Working Papers 26145, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Mike Brewer & Jonathan Shaw, 2018. "How Taxes and Welfare Benefits Affect Work Incentives," Fiscal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 39(1), pages 5-38, March.
    14. Hembre, Erik & Collins, J. Michael & Wylde, Samuel, 2024. "A rising tide lifts all homes? Housing consumption trends for low-income households since the 1980s," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 233(C).
    15. Nathan Berg & Todd Gabel, 2013. "Effects of New Welfare Reform Strategies on Welfare Participation: Microdata Estimates from Canada," Working Papers 1304, University of Otago, Department of Economics, revised Feb 2013.

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