Targeted Child Tax Credit: An affordable option for state governments to reduce child poverty rates
中文摘要
2021年联邦政府对儿童税收抵免(CTC)的扩张促使美国儿童贫困率创下历史新低;然而,该扩张在一年后到期,且国会近期不太可能恢复这一扩张。州政府日益有意实施本州的全额可退还儿童税收抵免,但相对于联邦政府面临严格的预算约束。本政策报告提出一项州级、全额可退还的儿童税收抵免方案,该方案成本可负担、高度定向于低收入家庭,并与联邦税收抵免形成互补,同时能够实质性降低各州的儿童贫困率。具体而言,我证明平均而言州政府可利用"贫困家庭临时援助"(Temporary Assistance for Needy Families)项目中的现有支出来为一项定向儿童税收抵免提供61%的资金,且所有州都能以低于其税收总收入2%的资金为该方案提供经费。对平均州而言,该定向儿童税收抵免可使儿童贫困率降低10%、深度儿童贫困率降低21%,且其支出效率高于其他收入转移项目。
Abstract
Abstract The federal expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in 2021 contributed to a record low child poverty rate for the United States; however, the expansion expired after 1 year and Congress is unlikely to reinstate the expansion in the near future. State governments are increasingly interested in implementing their own fully‐refundable CTCs, yet face strict budgetary constraints relative to the federal government. This policy report proposes a state‐level, fully‐refundable CTC that is affordable, strongly targeted at low‐income families, and complementary to federal tax credits, yet would make meaningful reductions in states' child poverty rates. Specifically, I demonstrate that the average state government can use existing spending within the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families program to fund 61% of a targeted CTC, and all states could fund the proposal with less than 2% of their total tax revenues. The targeted CTC could reduce child poverty by 10%, and deep child poverty by 21%, for the average state, with a level of spending efficiency that exceeds other income‐transfer programs.