Life seems to be measured in Seasons. The Holiday and Football Seasons are behind us; the Tax Season and Baseball Season are now upon us. (Pitchers and catchers officially began reporting on Feb. 11th.) But until the taxes are filed and regular season games begin, Tax Season takes precedence even over baseball in the minds of most Americans. While the season may be met with anticipation by some and dread by others, for many low and moderate income families and policymakers, there is relief at the recent extension of some key tax provisions. As the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) blogged about, Congress recently extended some important components of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) through 2017.
To understand why these extensions are important we need to understand what makes them examples of good policy. The EITC and the CTC are appealing to many policymakers because they encourage work and strengthen a family’s finances. Th
ese credits encourage employment because individuals must report earned income to be eligible for the credits. They also give workers an incentive to achieve higher wages because the more an individual earns the larger their credit will be, until it begins to phase out at higher income levels. Another key advantage to low-income families is that the tax credits are refundable, meaning that if the credit exceeds the amount of taxes owed by a low-wage worker, the IRS will still refund all or part of the balance. Unfortunately, many Americans are unaware of the EITC. Estimates show that one out of five eligible taxpayers failed to take advantage of it in 2011 alone. It’s like hitting a home run, and failing to tag all the bases; many families earned the tax credit, but never took the necessary steps to receive the benefit.
Now we turn to the importance of these extensions in the lives of American families. The EITC, which lifted an estimated 3 million children out of poverty in 2011, had two important elements added in the 2009 Recovery Act. (more…)
ach of carols and decorations, so much as it was an effort to reprioritize things. I want to take part in the Season, but on different terms this time.
In a busy and overly connected world, it seems like a radical idea: family bonding, without the television, the computer or the cell phone as the center of our attention. However, when we are able to incorporate this simple form of family time into our routines, it should be a cause of ongoing thanksgiving.
As is often the case with ranking documents, the news is not good for Oklahoma. In this very broad measure of how children fare (including 25 separate measures), Oklahoma children rank 43rd, with an index value of -0.56. New Jersey children are best off, with an index of 0.85, and New Mexico’s are worst off, with an index of -0.96. Perhaps most disturbing of all, we were in the bottom 10 states on five of the seven “domains” that were measured. Oklahoma’s domain rankings were: 
Instinctively,we know that a family’s housing situation impacts the physical and emotional health of the family. Usually, the link between housing and health is limited to comparing the homeless to those who have homes. There are many studies that show that homeless children are less likely to be immunized, more likely to be in poor health, more likely to be at risk for developmental delays, and have higher rates of asthma and infectious disease when compared to those who have homes. We also know that homeless children who are in school are more likely to have behavioral and academic problems. But, what about those children living in unstable homes. Those that are not homeless but are behind on rent or at risk of being homeless. There has been little research into how being behind on rent affects health. A new report from Children’s Healthwatch seeks to fill this gap.
