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The Collision of Tax and Welfare Politics: The Political History of the Earned Income Tax Credit, 1969 - 1999

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  • Dennis J. Ventry

Abstract

Updated March 25, 2001 A revised version of this paper appears as "The Collision of Tax and Welfare Politics: The Political History of the Earned Income Tax Credit, 1969-1999." National Tax Journal 53(4) (part 2): 983-1026. For more information see www.ntanet.org. This paper uses the political history and pre-history of the EITC to describe how the politics of welfare reform influence tax policies that function as social policy. It suggests that the economic tradeoffs inherent in the formulation of tax-transfer programs are also political tradeoffs. It examines policy choices between costs and labor supply incentives, as well as those between ease of participation and compliance rates. The paper concludes that although economic analysis influenced the creation and development of the EITC, political factors, not economics, animated the history of the program.

Suggested Citation

  • Dennis J. Ventry, 2000. "The Collision of Tax and Welfare Politics: The Political History of the Earned Income Tax Credit, 1969 - 1999," JCPR Working Papers 149, Northwestern University/University of Chicago Joint Center for Poverty Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:wop:jopovw:149
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Rebecca M. Blank & David Card & Philip K. Robins, 1999. "Financial Incentives for Increasing Work and Income Among Low-Income Families," NBER Working Papers 6998, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Rebecca M. Blank & Alan S. Blinder, 1985. "Macroeconomics, Income Distribution, and Poverty," NBER Working Papers 1567, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Blank, Rebecca M. & Card, David & Robins, Philip K., 1999. "Financial Incentives for Increasing Work and Income Among Low-Income Families," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt2f15x7sg, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
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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. V. Joseph Hotz, 2003. "The Earned Income Tax Credit," NBER Chapters, in: Means-Tested Transfer Programs in the United States, pages 141-198, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kartik B. Athreya & Devin Reilly & Nicole B. Simpson, 2010. "Earned income tax credit recipients: income, marginal tax rates, wealth, and credit constraints," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, vol. 96(3Q), pages 229-258.
    4. Shabu Abraham Varghese, 2016. "Poverty in the United States: A Review of Relevant Programs," Poverty & Public Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 8(3), pages 228-247, September.
    5. Felix J. Bierbrauer & Pierre C. Boyer & Emanuel Hansen, 2023. "Pareto‐Improving Tax Reforms and the Earned Income Tax Credit," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 91(3), pages 1077-1103, May.
    6. Lawrence Mead, 2015. "Only connect: Why government often ignores research," Policy Sciences, Springer;Society of Policy Sciences, vol. 48(2), pages 257-272, June.
    7. Craig Gundersen & James Ziliak, 2004. "Poverty and macroeconomic performance across space, race, and family structure," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(1), pages 61-86, February.

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