Rowhani and Hill’s Research on Impact of EITC on Child Neglect a Featured Story for NIH’s Population Dynamics Centers
Posted: 1/7/2023 (CSDE Research)
Recently, the Population Reference Bureau and its Population Dynamics Research Coordinating Center featured Dr. Rowhani’s and Dr. Hill’s research on the impact of Federal tax policy on poor child outcomes in their regular blog highlighting population research. They find that the child tax credit (CTC) and earned income tax credit (EITC) are related to declines in reports of child maltreatment, youth violence, and juvenile convictions. The CTC and EITC are among the largest anti-poverty programs in United States, notes Ali Rowhani-Rahbar, a UW epidemiology professor and study co-author. “While not originally designed to prevent violence, we find meaningful reductions in several forms of violence per each $1,000 increase in EITC provided,” he adds. This new research comes as policymakers at both the national and state levels are considering proposals to expand these tax credits. Child poverty fell more than 40% between 2020 and 2021 thanks to a temporary one-year expansion of the CTC—part of the government’s pandemic response.