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Repairing the safety net: Is the EITC the right patch?

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  • Edward J. Bird

    (W. Allen Wallis Institute of Political Economy, University of Rochester, Rochester, New York)

Abstract

Using data from the Michigan Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this article estimates the impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on economic risk. Risk is measured through the variance of full income (income holding labor supply constant). The results show that the EITC significantly reduces economic risk, but its effects are weaker dollar for dollar than traditional means-tested programs like Food Stamps. The difference is not statistically significant, however. Moreover, for many middle-class people, the risk-reduction benefits of the EITC exceed the tax burden it imposes. This is less true of means-tested transfers. These results are significant for the politics of antipoverty policy. They show that a real-world antipoverty program can generate enough middle-class economic security to build for itself a solid base of political support.

Suggested Citation

  • Edward J. Bird, 1996. "Repairing the safety net: Is the EITC the right patch?," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 15(1), pages 1-31.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:jpamgt:v:15:y:1996:i:1:p:1-31
    DOI: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6688(199624)15:1<1::AID-PAM1>3.0.CO;2-K
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Scholz, John Karl, 1994. "The Earned Income Credit: Participation, Compliance, and Antipoverty Effectiveness," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association, vol. 47(1), pages 63-87, March.
    2. Ballard, Charles L, 1988. "The Marginal Efficiency Cost of Redistribution," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 78(5), pages 1019-1033, December.
    3. Scholz, John Karl, 1994. "The Earned Income Credit: Participation, Compliance, and Antipoverty Effectiveness," National Tax Journal, National Tax Association;National Tax Journal, vol. 47(1), pages 63-87, March.
    4. Edward M. Gramlich & Michael J. Wolkoff, 1979. "A Procedure for Evaluating Income Distribution Policies," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 14(3), pages 319-350.
    5. Feldstein, Martin S, 1973. "The Welfare Loss of Excess Health Insurance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(2), pages 251-280, Part I, M.
    6. Saul D. Hoffman & Laurence S. Seidman, 1990. "The Earned Income Tax Credit," Books from Upjohn Press, W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research, number eitc.
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    Cited by:

    1. Bound, John & Cullen, Julie Berry & Nichols, Austin & Schmidt, Lucie, 2004. "The welfare implications of increasing disability insurance benefit generosity," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 2487-2514, December.
    2. E. J. Bird & P. A. Hagstrom & R. Wild, "undated". "Credit Cards and the Poor," Institute for Research on Poverty Discussion Papers 1148-97, University of Wisconsin Institute for Research on Poverty.

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