TY  - JOUR
AU  - Neumark,David
AU  - Wascher,William
TI  - Using the EITC to Help Poor Families: New Evidence and a Comparision with the Minimum Wage
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 7599
PY  - 2000
Y2  - March 2000
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7599
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w7599.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David Neumark
Department of Economics
University of California at Irvine
3151 Social Science Plaza
Irvine, CA  92697
Tel: 949-824-8496
Fax: 949/824-2182
E-Mail: dneumark@uci.edu

William Wascher
Federal Reserve Board
Stop 66
Washington, DC 20551
Tel: 202/452-2812
Fax: 202/452-5296
E-Mail: william.l.wascher@frb.gov
AB  - This paper evaluates the effects of the earned income tax credit (EITC) on poor families. Exploiting state-level variation in EITCs, we find that the EITC helps families rise above poverty-level earnings. This occurs by inducing labor market entry in families that initially do not have an adult in the workforce.  Evidence based on the federal EITC is less supportive of a positive impact of the EITC on poor families.  Finally, our results suggest that for the range of policy changes typical of recent history in the U.S., the EITC is more beneficial for poor families than is the minimum wage.
ER  -