Giving Tax Credit Where Credit is Due: A 'Universal Unified Child Credit'

Publication Date: April 2000

Publisher: Economic Policy Institute

Author(s): Max Sawicky; Robert Cherry

Research Area: Banking and finance; Health

Type: Brief

Abstract:

Although the U.S. economy is in the 109th month of a record-length recovery and the federal budget is in its best shape in history, nearly one in five American children are in families whose income is below the poverty line. Almost 10 million children lack health insurance coverage and Medicaid benefits (U.S. Census Bureau 2000a). An effective means of helping these children would be a major expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit that restructures and combines some of the other tax benefits available to families with children.