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May 14, 2024

Understanding Trends in Worker Pay over the Past 50 years

Key Points Despite numerous claims to the contrary, the pay of American workers has tracked productivity trends—for at least 95 years. The pay of the median worker, however, after rising…

March 28, 2024

An Early Look at the Child Tax Credit Changes in the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

Abstract The Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, which the US House of Representatives passed on January 31, 2024, and the Senate is now considering, would…

March 11, 2024

How Many Forms of “Wage Insurance” Do We Need, Exactly?

Scott Winship, “A Safety Net for the Future: Overcoming the Root Causes of Poverty,” in American Renewal, ed. Paul Ryan and Angela Rachidi. Consider just some of the major social…

February 27, 2024

Options for Improving the Child Tax Credit Provisions in H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024

H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, passed the House on January 31, 2024 and now faces an uncertain fate in the Senate. The…

February 8, 2024

CTC Expansion Rooted in Desire to Roll Back Work-based Welfare

…led by our colleagues Kevin Corinth and Scott Winship, the potential negative employment effects from the proposed lookback policy are notable. We estimated a net employment reduction from a permanent…

February 8, 2024

Another Flawed Analysis Shows that Single Mothers are Highly Sensitive to Changes in Work Incentives

Tuesday, I published a critique of a paper by Council of Economic Advisers senior economist Jacob Bastian related to the debate over expanding the child tax credit (CTC). In that…

February 7, 2024

Child Tax Credit Bill Would Increase Marriage Penalties for Working Single Mothers

H.R. 7024, the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, was passed by the House last week and is now moving to the Senate for consideration. The…

February 6, 2024

Research by a Top Biden Administration Economist Reinforces the Importance of Work Incentives in the Child Tax Credit and the Safety Net

For the past two years, economist Jacob Bastian has been the main researcher dedicated to trumpeting the virtues of a child tax credit (CTC) expansion. Writing first as an economist…

January 31, 2024

The Wyden-Smith Child Tax Credit and Work: Responding to Critics

The Wyden-Smith tax bill under consideration in the House has rekindled a debate about the Child Tax Credit (CTC) and work incentives. We, along with our colleagues, Angela Rachidi and…

January 29, 2024

Per-Child Benefit in Wyden-Smith Child Tax Credit Bill Would Discourage Full-Time Work for Families with Multiple Children

The Wyden-Smith proposed tax legislation would make four changes to the Child Tax Credit (CTC). First, it would increase the cap on the refundable portion of the CTC, eventually to the same…