On November 3, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources held a hearing, “Better Coordinating Welfare Programs to Serve Families in Need.”
“Research shows…that the EITC [Earned Income Tax Credit] and the low-income component of the Child Tax Credit draw people into the labor market and increase work. Research has found the EITC to be particularly effective at increasing work effort among single mothers; it is widely considered to be one of the most effective policies for increasing work and earnings among female-headed families and has been a key factor behind the substantial increases in work among single mothers since in the early 1990s. (In fact, University of Chicago economist Jeffrey Grogger found that the EITC expansions of the 1990s ‘appear to be the most important single factor in explaining why female family heads increased their employment over 1993-1999,’ with an even larger impact on employment than changes in welfare policies.)”
The following witnesses also testified:
