An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Antipoverty Programs in the United States

Ben‐Shalom, Yonatan; Moffitt, Robert A.; Scholz, John Karl

doi:10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195393781.013.0023

Cited by 54 publications

(47 citation statements)

References 39 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Strong evidence suggests that welfare reforms lowered safety net cash buffers for low-income families (Bitler & Hoynes, 2016;Danziger, 2010;Hardy, Samudra, & Davis, 2019). In addition, increases to food stamp benefits and refundable federal and state-earned income tax credit benefits effectively shifted cash and near-cash support from individuals and families below the poverty line toward those near and above poverty and toward families participating in work (Ben-Shalom, Moffitt & Scholz, 2011;Shaefer, Edin, & Talbert, 2015).…”

Section: Safety Net Instabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening Social Programs to Promote Economic Stability During Childhood

Hardy

Hill

Romich

2019

Social Policy Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Economic instability has increased in recent decades and is higher for families with low incomes and Black families. Such instability is thought to be driven primarily by precarious work and unstable family structure. In addition, the social safety net has become less of a stabilizing force for low‐income families, in part because benefits are often tied to employment and earnings. Too much change in economic circumstances may disrupt investments in children, parenting practices, and family routines—particularly if the economic changes are unpredictable, undesired, or not part of upward mobility. Given the considerable evidence that economic circumstances affect child health and development, economic stability can and should be an important goal of multiple policy domains. In this report, we describe economic instability, review the pertinent theories for considering how economic instability might matter to children, and describe ideas for policies that could reduce or moderate instability. We include policies that reduce instability in earnings, use public assistance to stabilize income or reduce material hardship, or enhance parents' capacity to deal with or avoid instability.

show abstract

Section: Safety Net Instabilitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Strengthening Social Programs to Promote Economic Stability During Childhood

Hardy

Hill

Romich

2019

Social Policy Report

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…social insurance, public assistance) reduce poverty and inequality levels by assessing incomes before and after transfers (see Danziger & Plotnick, 1977;Smeeding, 1975). Some studies have examined the anti-poverty effects on specific demographic groups, such as the elderly and people with disabilities (Ben-Shalom, Moffitt, & Scholz, 2011;Bound & Burkhauser, 1999;Ozawa, 1999). Another group of studies used a comparative approach across countries, measuring anti-poverty effectiveness as a policy outcome of each country and comparing it to that of other countries (Kim, 2000;Wang, Caminada, & Goudswaard, 2012).…”

Section: Income Transfers and Poverty Reductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The effects of income transfers on poverty reduction in people with disabilities in South Korea

Lee

Choi

2018

Asian Soc Wrk & Pol Rev

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Using a nationally representative sample dataset from the 2016 Korean Welfare Panel Study, we examined the anti‐poverty effects of income transfers in people with disabilities. Our findings indicate that in households with a person with a disability, income transfers decreased by 55.9% and 84.8% of the pre‐transfer poverty rate and poverty gap, respectively. Before income transfers, households with a person with a disability were 1.94 times more likely to be poor compared to those without a person with a disability. When income transfers were offered, the chance of being poor in the disability group was only 1.11 times higher than that in the non‐disability group. Findings from the aggregated data suggest that means‐tested income transfers were more effective in reducing poverty levels than social insurance or private income transfers. At the individual level, the provision of means‐tested programs was also more likely to decrease the likelihood of experiencing poverty than social insurance and private income transfers.

show abstract

“…Income Tax Credit (EITC) with their own state EITCs (Ben-Shalom, Moffitt, and Scholz 2012; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities 2015). The EITC is currently the nation's largest federal cash transfer program for low-and moderate-income working families, and the DC EITC, equal to 40 percent of the federal EITC, is the largest state or local supplement to the federal EITC in the country (Clark 2008); for DC participants, this translates to the largest total refundable EITC.…”

Section: Twenty-five States and Washington DC (Dc) Have Supplemenmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit in the District of Columbia on Poverty and Income Dyanamics

Hardy

Muhammad

Samudra

2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Standard-Nutzungsbedingungen:Die Dokumente auf EconStor dürfen zu eigenen wissenschaftlichen Zwecken und zum Privatgebrauch gespeichert und kopiert werden.Sie dürfen die Dokumente nicht für öffentliche oder kommerzielle Zwecke vervielfältigen, öffentlich ausstellen, öffentlich zugänglich machen, vertreiben oder anderweitig nutzen.Sofern die Verfasser die Dokumente unter Open-Content-Lizenzen (insbesondere CC-Lizenzen) zur Verfügung gestellt haben sollten, gelten abweichend von diesen Nutzungsbedingungen die in der dort genannten Lizenz gewährten Nutzungsrechte. Terms of use: Documents in ABSTRACTUsing unique longitudinal administrative tax panel data for the District of Columbia (DC), we assess the combined effect of the DC supplemental earned income tax credit (EITC) and the federal EITC on poverty and income dynamics within Washington, DC, from 2001 to 2011. The EITC in DC merits investigation, as the DC supplement to the federal credit is the largest in the nation. The supplemental DC EITC was enacted in 2000, and has been expanded from 10 percent of the federal credit in 2001 to 40 percent as of 2009. To implement the study, we estimate least squares models with 0/1 dependent variables to estimate the likelihood of net-EITC income above poverty and near-poverty thresholds. We also estimate the likelihood of earnings growth and income stabilization from the EITC. To identify the effect of the EITC, we exploit variation in the EITC subsidy rate from 2008 to 2009, when an additional EITC bracket of 45 percent was added for workers with three or more dependent children, up from 40 percent in the previous year for workers with two or more children. We also estimate a model examining the impact of city-level changes to the EITC. The structure and richness of our data enable us to control for tax filer fixed effects, an important innovation from many previous EITC studies. Overall, we find that the combined EITC raises the likelihood of net-EITC income above poverty and near poverty by as much as 9 percent, with the largest consistent effects accruing to single-parent families. JEL Classification Codes: I32, I38, H24, J38

show abstract

An Assessment of the Effectiveness of Antipoverty Programs in the United States

Cited by 54 publications

References 39 publications

Strengthening Social Programs to Promote Economic Stability During Childhood

Strengthening Social Programs to Promote Economic Stability During Childhood

The effects of income transfers on poverty reduction in people with disabilities in South Korea

The Effect of the Earned Income Tax Credit in the District of Columbia on Poverty and Income Dyanamics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About