Abstract
To reduce child poverty and income instability, and eliminate extreme poverty among families with children in the United States, we propose converting the Child Tax Credit and child tax exemption into a universal, monthly child allowance. Our proposal is based on principles we argue should undergird the design of such policies: universality, accessibility, adequate payment levels, and more generous support for young children. Whether benefits should decline with additional children to reflect economies of scale is a question policymakers should consider. Analyzing 2015 Current Population Survey data, we estimate our proposed child allowance would reduce child poverty by about 40 percent, deep child poverty by nearly half, and would effectively eliminate extreme child poverty. Annual net cost estimates range from $66 billion to $105 billion.
- © 2018 Russell Sage Foundation. Shaefer, H. Luke, Sophie Collyer, Greg Duncan, Kathryn Edin, Irwin Garfinkel, David Harris, Timothy M. Smeeding, Jane Waldfogel, Christopher Wimer, and Hirokazu Yoshikawa. 2018. “A Universal Child Allowance: A Plan to Reduce Poverty and Income Instability Among Children in the United States.” RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences 4(2): 22–42. DOI: 10.7758/RSF.2018.4.2.02. Direct correspondence to: H. Luke Shaefer at lshaefer{at}umich.edu, University of Michigan, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, 735 South State St., Ann Arbor, MI 48104; Sophie Collyer at smc2246{at}columbia.edu, Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027; Greg Duncan at gduncan{at}uci.edu, School of Education, University of California, Irvine, 3200 Education, Irvine, CA 92697; Kathryn Edin at kathy_edin{at}jhu.edu, Zanvyl Krieger School, John Hopkins University, Department of Sociology, 533 Mergenthaler Hall, 3400 N. Charles St., Baltimore, MD 21218; Irwin Garfinkel at ig3{at}columbia.edu, Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10025; David Harris at davidbharris{at}mac.com, Columbia Population Research Center, 1255 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027; Timothy M. Smeeding at smeeding{at}wisc.edu, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 3464 SSSB, 1180 Observatory Dr., Madison, WI 53706; Jane Waldfogel at jw205{at}columbia.edu, Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Ave., New York, NY 10027; Christopher Wimer at cw2727{at}columbia.edu, Columbia University School of Social Work, 1255 Amsterdam Ave., 7th Floor, New York, NY 10027; and Hirokazu Yoshikawa at hiro.yoshikawa{at}nyu.edu, New York University, 726 Broadway, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10003 .
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