Key adjustments to the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) could help lift millions of children out of poverty in the U.S., according to a new study, especially helping Hispanic children and children in immigrant families.
Increasing the EITC benefits by 40% and dropping the Social Security number requirement would lift 2.09 million children from poverty, according to a study led by DiversityDataKids.org, an initiative of Brandeis University.
That would result in a 23% poverty reduction for all children in the U.S. with a 28% poverty rate drop for Hispanic children, a 37% decline for citizen children in mixed-status families or households with an undocumented member, and a 18% drop for noncitizen children in mixed-status families or households with an undocumented member.
The research builds on a 2019 report underscoring how immigrant families continue to register among the highest poverty rates, with the current EITC requirements excluding 1.89 million children in immigrant families.
“The EITC is one of the main programs that we have in the U.S. that is among the most effective programs for reducing child poverty,” Dolores Acevedo-Garcia, director of the Institute for Child, Youth and Family Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University and co-author of the study, told.
“Yet, one of the very serious gaps is that it excludes many immigrant children and families and that has not nearly been discussed enough.”
The Earned Income Tax Credit is available to low-to moderate-income working households whether or not they have qualifying dependents.
In the 2018 tax year, the EITC reached 22 million working families and individuals.
According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, it also lifted an estimated 5.6 million households from poverty, including 3 million children, reducing child poverty by more than a quarter in the U.S. In combination with the Child Tax Credit, the EITC lifted another 16.5 million people and 6.1 million children from severe poverty.
The credit also has bipartisan support, Acevedo-Garcia said, “because the program is based on work. It’s meant to supplement earnings and encourage work.”
For instance, the credit amount depends on earned income, filing status, and number of dependents per household.
For 2021, qualifying dependents include children under the age of 19, students under age 24, or dependents with a disability. ♦
Courtesy- Yahoo Money
