New State Data Show EITC’s Widespread Anti-Poverty Impact
A New Look at How the Tax Code Works for Working Families
As the clock ticks down to January 1, and lawmakers try to hash out a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff and address the expiration of the Bush tax cuts, new data on taxpayers in the United States--collected from federal tax returns and available down to the ZIP code level through Brookings’ EITC Interactive--provide an impo READ MORE >>
The Wrong Way to Look at Helping the Poor
In a New York Times op-ed today, Gary MacDougal tackles a pressing and complicated question: What is the most effective way to fight poverty in America? With 15 percent of the population--and one in five children--living below the federal poverty line, this is exactly the conversation we need to have as a country. READ MORE >>
U.S. Poverty Continues its Post-Recession Grip
Yesterday, the Census Bureau released the latest round of Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance Coverage data, giving us a look at 2011. The mixed picture that emerged in yesterday’s release reveals the effects of an economic recovery that has remained sluggish and weak since its official start in June 2009. READ MORE >>
EITC Receipt Continues to Rise in Recession's Wake
Today, as we mark the close of another tax filing season, an article in this morning’s New York Times reminds us just how important this time of year is to millions of low-income working families struggling to make ends meet. READ MORE >>
Subsidies in the Suburbs
Guest post by Kenya Covington, Lance Freeman, and Michael Stoll Housing vouchers, like most Americans, have gone suburban. In a new Brookings report, we found that nearly half of housing choice voucher (HCV--previously known as Section 8) recipients within the nation’s largest metro areas live in the suburbs, a proportion that increased, albeit modestly, during the past decade. READ MORE >>
Parsing U.S. Poverty at the Metropolitan Level
How Well Did the EITC Work During the Recession?
In addition to being a highly effective poverty reduction tool, the Earned Income Tax Credit has been found to have a slew of other positive effects on recipients and their families. And in a decade that kicked off with an economic downturn and saw incomes stagnate and decline through a jobless recovery, the EITC tracked well READ MORE >>
America’s Cities and Suburbs Becoming Safer
Needed: More, Better, AND Accessible Jobs
This recent Per Square Mile post caught my eye (hat tip to my colleague Ben Orr) because it hits on three key issues that affect access to opportunity in our major metro areas: where the poor live, where jobs are, and how transit fits into the picture. And all of these issues came to the fore in our recent study on transit and employment access. READ MORE >>
