Senators Sherrod Brown, Michael Bennet, Richard Durbin, and Ron Wyden introduced legislation on April 10 that would substantially expand the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and the Child Tax Credit (CTC). Based on an analysis of Census data, the proposal, known as the Working Families Tax Relief Act, would improve the economic well-being of 46 million low- and moderate-income households with 114 million people.
A significant body of research indicates that the EITC and CTC increase employment, reduce poverty, and improve children’s life prospects. The proposal’s EITC and CTC expansions — combined with overdue legislation to raise the minimum wage, provide paid family and medical leave, and other such policies — would help address the long-term wage stagnation that has affected households from all racial and ethnic backgrounds that earn low or modest wages.
Read the CBPP analysis here
Read the story of Diane Sullivan, a working mother of six (with four still at home), whose lifeline has been the EITC, here
