Restructuring the

EITC: A Credit for

the Modern Worker
Authors: Dylan Bellisle & David Marzahl

Executive Summary

Findings
Periodic EITC payments are
administratively feasible.
A majority of our participants were
able to make income and household
predictions that provided reasonably
accurate estimates of future EITC receipt.
Only 3 of 229 (1.3%) participants who
completed the pilot overestimated their
refund, resulting in a balance due at tax
time. All participants were able to provide
initial bank account or prepaid debt card
information to receive the payments
electronically and keep the direct deposit
information updated throughout the year.

Can a restructured Earned Income Tax Credit payment

improve household nancial stability?

Taxpayers prefer periodic EITC

payments to a single tax time

Financial instability the inability to meet monthly expenses regularly is a

growing problem for many American households. Despite recent attention from
policy makers, there has been little real action to address the issue. Income
volatility, which drives nancial instability, is threatening the social mobility and
independence of working families, and neglecting this issue will only lead these
families further into debt.
Many working families are lling the gap between their monthly income and
expenses by going without necessities, using high interest credit and predatory
short term loans, and borrowing from family and friends. Programs like the
Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) provide a much needed nancial boost during
the tax season, but this once-a-year payment structure fails to reduce income
volatility. Unsurprisingly, a 2012 study found that 84% of EITC recipients used
a portion of their tax refund to pay overdue bills and debt, while only a small
percentage was able to allocate any of their refund to savings.
1

Is it possible to make the nancial support provided by the

EITC available to families over the course of the year, and
would that improve their nancial stability?
The Chicago EITC Periodic Payment Pilot, led by the Center for Economic
Progress (CEP) with support from Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, tested the
feasibility and utility of a periodic EITC payment structure. Participants received
half of their estimated 2014 EITC refund in four payments during the year.
Participation was restricted to taxpayers with at least one qualifying child who
received an EITC for 2013 of at least $600 and had no tax controversy or federal
debt that would interfere with receiving a tax refund. The study evaluated the
administrative feasibility and taxpayer desirability of a periodic payment along
with improved household nancial stability.

payment.
Ninety percent of those who received
the periodic payments reported having
a preference for them over any other
payment method. In the control
group that did not receive the periodic
payments, half reported interest in an
alternative to the normal once-a-year
EITC payment.

Periodic EITC payments improve

nancial stability.
Participating households reported a
number of positive benets from EITC
periodic payments. Participants had more
disposable income at certain points in
the year and experienced less stress
in meeting monthly expenses. Eightysix percent of the periodic payment
funds were used to pay down debt, pay
current bills, and purchase necessities.
Importantly, the share of participants
planning to save a portion of their 2014
tax refund doubled from the year before,
suggesting that periodic payments might
improve recipients capacity for saving at
tax time.

Recommendations
Adopt periodic EITC payments to improve household nancial stability.
The IRS should assume a role in establishing a periodic payment framework and seek any administrative or Congressional
authority needed to proceed.
Use existing mechanisms for taxpayer awareness.
Tax preparers, both commercial and Volunteer Income Tax Assistance programs, are equipped to determine taxpayer
eligibility and promote a periodic payment. Tax preparation software can determine eligibility and market the benets of
participation to taxpayers ling their own returns.
Expand the pilot study to inform policy change.
This study found that an EITC periodic payment model is feasible and benecial. With IRS cooperation, CEP welcomes
the opportunity to conduct and/or inform an expanded study that broadens the demographic representation, test additional
payment options and assessing administrative requirements to inform future policy change.

1. Introduction
Employment Instability & Financial Instability
Fundamental changes in the labor market have reduced the nancial stability traditionally provided by employment.
Despite increased national productivity, the real hourly compensation of the typical American worker has remained roughly
the same since 1979. In recent years, low-wage industries have experienced the most job growth while workers in those
industries have seen the largest decline in wages. In addition to nding more jobs that pay less, 64% of US households
report having unstable work schedules, and the lowest income workers face the most irregular work schedules. Of 18,000
low-income Illinois and Chicago households who led tax returns with the Center for Economic Progress (CEP) in 2015,
only a slight majority (54%) of primary earners had just one employer in 2014, while 32% had two or more employers, 3%
were self-employed and 11% were either unemployed, disabled or retired. Employment instability also affects clients
in CEPs Financial Capability program, which provides nancial coaching for several hundred individuals each year. Clients
regularly report that their erratic work schedules, uctuating hours and limited benets cause uctuations income that
create signicant barriers to establishing a weekly or monthly budgets and consistently making ends meet.
For many, employment instability leads directly to income volatility and nancial instability the inability to meet monthly
expenses regularly. Nearly half of Americans regularly experience signicant uctuations in their income, and 55% either
break even or spend more than they make in a typical month. According to Bureau of Labor Statistics data for 2013,
households in the lowest two income quintiles spent $12,735 and $6,284 more than their income, respectively.
Financial instability forces families, especially those with children, to take on debt to pay rent and purchase basic
necessities. Low and moderate income households are increasingly nancing their basic living expenses with credit cards
and carry an average credit card debt of $7,145. More than one in four pay interest rates above 20%. If they made only the
minimum payment, it would take just over 13 years to pay off $7,145 at a 20% interest rate. For low-income families, this
puts precautionary savings beyond reach. A Bankrate survey found that 27% percent of Americans reported having no
emergency savings at all, and an additional 23% lacked savings to cover
Average Income and Expenditure for
three months of expenses. An unexpected expense or loss of income
American Households by Quintile
due to unemployment or reduced hours is potentially devastating for
$160,000
these households.
Average Annual Income
$140,000
Average Annual Expenditure

$120,000

Difference between Income and Expenditure

Financial instability affects more than just a familys nancial bottom

line; it has lasting impacts on childhood development. In one study,
children who lived in families that went from being above the poverty
line to below had lower math and reading ability than children in
families that did not experience poverty over the same period. This
effect was evident even when controlling for demographic and family
background.

$100,000
$80,000
$60,000
$40,000
$20,000
$0
-$20,000
1st Quintile

2nd Quintile

3rd Quintile

4th Quintile

5th Quintile

2.

The Earned Income Tax Credit Lifeline

Celebrating its 40th year in 2015, the Earned Income
Tax Credit (EITC) has been marked by strong bipartisan
support and numerous expansions under both
Democratic and Republican administrations. The
maximum credit for families with three or more children
has grown from $400 in 1975 to $6,143 for the 2014
tax year, an increase of over $4,300 when adjusted
for ination. The average EITC in 2013 was $2,407, and
for low income families it is often worth much more.11
A single mother with two children making $17,080 a
year could receive a tax refund in excess of $7,372, an
amount equal to 43% of her annual earned income and
constituting 30% of her total income. In this case, the
EITC and the Child Tax Credit (CTC) together effectively lift
the family to 124% of the federal poverty level.12 In 2013,
the EITC and CTC lifted 9.4 million people out of poverty
while providing a nancial boost to 22 million more.13

The EITC has become one of the largest and

most important safety net programs for working
families.14 Given that the minimum wage has lost
buying power since 1975, the growth in the value
of the EITC has been critical wage supplement
for low-income families. The tax refund, and in
particular the EITC, is more than an annual nancial
lifeline. Multiple studies nd that EITC recipients
use their tax refund to invest in their future by
purchasing a car, investing in education, and saving
for a down payment on a house.15 This duality of
purpose -- meeting immediate needs while also
investing in the future -- makes it an essential
program.

However, many other EITC recipients have fallen

behind on rent, have unpaid bills or acquired credit

Earned Income versus Tax Credits

$18,000

card debt in order to make ends meet during the

$16,000

rest of the year. For these families, a once-a-year

$14,000

payment can help them catch up, but it is unlikely

Child Tax Credit

Earned Income Credit

$12,000

to help them meet ongoing expenses. Structured

Annual Earned Income

$10,000

as a once-a-year refund, the increasing value of the

$17,080

$8,000

$2,000

$6,000

EITC, while critical in lifting families out of poverty,

$4,000

is ineffective in smoothing income and expenses

$5,372

$2,000

throughout the year. As the one of the largest

$0

providers of free tax and nancial services in the

Change in Average EITC and Minimum

country, CEP saw an opportunity to ask if an EITC

Wage
$3,000

periodic payment model would be attractive to

$10.00
$9.00

$2,500

$7.00
$6.00

$1,500

$5.00
$4.00

Average EITC Credit (Adjusted

$1,000

for Inflation 2013 Dollars)

$500

Minimum Wage (Adjusted for

inflation to 2013 Dollars)

would improve household nancial stability

Minimum Wage

Average EITC

$2,000

$0
1970

recipients, and if this alternative payment structure

$8.00

throughout the year.

$3.00
$2.00
$1.00
$0.00

1980

1990

2000

2010

2020

3.

2. Rethinking the EITC Payment Model

Many EITC households are caught in a spiral of debt due to income volatility and basic expenses that exceed
their monthly income. As tax refunds have grown due to the expansions in the EITC and other credits, CEP has
observed that providing a large annual lump-sum refund, absent substantial income support during the year,
creates an unhealthy and unproductive cycle of scarcity and abundance. Parents forgo everyday necessities,
delay paying bills, and accumulate high interest debt to ll the monthly gap between income and expenses. As
a result, many families must use the EITC to pay bills and debt accumulated during the previous year. One study
found that 61% of EITC recipient households that rely on credit cards for basic living expenses use their tax
refund to pay down credit card debt, while another found that 84% use a portion of their tax refund to pay bills
and debt.17

8 out of 10 EITC Recipients use a Portion of Their Refund to Pay Bills and Debt

In light of this data, low-income working families

could clearly benet from income support at
regular intervals throughout the year. From 1978
to 2010, EITC recipients had an option to receive
advance payments of their EITC through their
paycheck with their primary employer, but the
option was discontinued due to low uptake.
Reasons for low uptake included reliance on
uninformed or uninterested employers to
promote the option, the administrative burden
on employers, inadequate IRS outreach efforts,
employee and employer awareness, misplaced
recipient fear of having to repay the credit at
tax time, and even fear that it would incent
employers to lower wages.18
One alternative is periodic payment of the EITC
during the tax year, as has been put forward by
poverty researcher and EITC expert Steve Holt.
This approach provides a portion of the EITC
refund in periodic advance payments paid directly

to the taxpayer by the IRS in larger amounts

than the smaller weekly or bi-weekly payments
that were available through the employer-based
advance. Limiting periodic payments to no more
than 50% of the expected credit during the year
would preserve a reasonably large tax refund
for most EITC recipients and protect against an
overpayment of the credit in advance.19
Building on CEPs mission as a trusted provider of
tax and nancial services for low-income families
and drawing on the interest and support of
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, the organization,
in January 2014, launched an 18-month EITC
periodic payment pilot to answer the following
questions: Is the alternative payment model
administratively feasible? Is it attractive to
recipients? Most importantly, can an alternative
payment model improve the household nancial
stability of recipients?

4.

The Chicago EITC Periodic Payment Pilot

The Chicago EITC Periodic Payment Pilot was made possible by a
group of dedicated partners who believed in testing an alternative
disbursement method of the EITC. These partners initially included
the Center for Economic Progress and the Ofce of Chicago
Mayor Rahm Emanuel. They expanded to include, the University
of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), the Chicago Housing
Authority (CHA), the Chicago Department of Family and Support
Services (DFSS), and Advent Financial (who was acquired by
Novation Companies halfway through the pilot). The Center for
Economic Progress was the primary administrator of the pilot and
facilitated the periodic payments to participants. The UIUC served
as the primary evaluator of the pilot, and conducted extensive
research and analysis to measure the pilots success. The CHA
provided the necessary capital to serve as a loan pool of funds
utilized to make the periodic EITC payments and assisted with
recruiting participants. DFSS and the Ofce of the Chicago Mayor
served as program funders and advisors throughout the pilot,
helping with the creation of the original eligibility requirements
and providing advice on program administration. Advent Financial
facilitated the periodic electronic payments to the participants.
CEP enrolled 343 CHA residents to receive four periodic payments
in May/June, August, October, and December 2014. Eligibility
was restricted to taxpayers with at least one qualifying child who
received an EITC for 2013 of at least $600 and had (based on IRS
Record of Account transcripts) no tax controversy or federal debt
that would interfere with receiving a tax refund. The periodic
payments would total half of the expected 2014 EITC, up to a
maximum of $2,000. Periodic payment amounts ranged from $80
to $500. The payments constituted a loan to be repaid in 2015 from
the 2014 tax year refund. To facilitate repayment, participants were
expected to have their 2014 return prepared by CEP.

Participant Demographics
Female: 97%
Single: 96%
African American: 89%
From 2013 tax returns (medians):

Income: $17,089
EITC: $4,478
Refund: $6,467

To assist with the evaluation, CEP recruited

a control group of 164 CHA residents and
CEP clients. UIUC surveys of both groups
asked about nances, employment, living
arrangements, stress, community, and
family. There was a baseline survey at
enrollment, a July survey after participants
had received their rst payment, a
November survey after the third periodic
payment, and a nal survey administered
January to April 2015 after tax returns were
led. UIUC also conducted focus groups and
interviews to add richness to the quantitative
survey data.

EITC Pilot Calendar

Most (335 of 343) participants received all four periodic payments. However, only two-thirds (229) completed the pilot
by repaying the periodic payment loan and providing tax return and survey data. In most cases, this was because the
participant chose not to have her 2014 tax return prepared at CEP. Project ndings are based on pilot project completers.

5.

3. Findings
Limitations

EITC Eligibility
The screening process was very successful at predicting continued
EITC eligibility. All but one of the pilot completers claimed the credit
(the exception was due to an unexpected ling status change).
Estimation
At enrollment, participants had to project what their income and
household conguration would be at year-end. Although a substantial
number of participants were reasonably accurate in their income
projections, over half were off by more than 10%:
Projected Earned Income Compared to
Actual Earned Income
41%

27%
Participants

Due to the funding

structure of the pilot,
only CHA residents could
participate. Therefore, the
participant population was
likely not representative
of the general EITCrecipient population.
The failure of one-third of
participants to complete
the project introduces
uncertainty into
interpreting the results.
There is no indication
that those who decided
not to return have their
taxes prepared at CEP
and repay their advance
payments loans were
signicantly distinct from
those who did. A desire
to use a tax preparer
with whom a participant
had a prior relationship
or to le taxes more
quickly than they could
be accommodated by
CEPs tax sites were likely
factors. Working with the
UIUC evaluation team,
CEP attempted to control
for the loss of participants
in the nal data.

Periodic EITC payment is administratively feasible.

16%
11%
6%

>33% under

10%-33%

within 10%

10%-33% over

>33% over

under

$1,500 for 15 participants (7%)

and underestimates by more
than $1,500 for 13 households
(6%).

Much higher percentages were

able to predict correctly their
marital (ling) status (98%) and
the number of children who would
qualify for the EITC (84%).

For 90% of participants, the

periodic payments totaled less
than 60% of the actual credit
claimed, a dramatic success
which afrms the need for a
rigorous eligibility determination
and screening process. The
$2,000 cap on periodic payments
played a role in skewing the
advance rate lower.

The pilot used the participant

estimates to calculate the projected
2014 EITC (and determine the
periodic payment amount). For a
majority of participants (57%), the
estimated EITC was within $500
of the actual amount claimed.
There were some outliers, with
overestimations of more than

Distribution of EITC Advance as Portion of

Total EITC
46%
42%

Participants

and Challenges

6%
1%
0%-20%

20%-40%

40%-60%

60%-80%

Advance as Portion of Total EITC

3%

2%

80%-100%

>100%

6.

Overpayments and Balances Due

The key concern with estimating EITC amounts is that a

Periodic EITC payments

improve nancial stability.

participant would receive too much of their credit in advance

and owe money at the time of ling. Only four participants

Payments Help Households Make Ends

(1.7%) received excessive advances through periodic payment,

Meet

though for three this meant a balance due tax return. With the
exception of one participant who was actually ineligible for the
EITC, the balance due did not exceed $122.
Direct Deposit as Delivery Mechanism
All participants were able to provide account information for
either a traditional bank account or a prepaid debit card. A
number of participants needed to change their account
information during the year, which they did by submitting
a new direct deposit form at least one week prior to the
issuance of the subsequent payment. Fifty participants
(14.6%) changed their account information at least once
during the administration of the pilot, and four (1.2%) changed
their account information twice. Only twenty of 1,348 direct
deposit transfers (1.5%) were unsuccessful on initial attempts,
and these were due to data entry or transmission errors.

EITC recipients prefer periodic EITC payments

to a single tax time payment.

The EITC periodic payments provided a

buffer against household income volatility
and nancial instability. In October,
participants were three times more likely
than the control group to report having
more disposable income compared to
the same time the previous year. Over
the year, they used most of the advances
to cover debt and pay bills and meet
everyday expenses such as groceries,
household items, and transportation. The
periodic payments appeared to enable
some participants to focus on savings at
tax time; compared with the prior year,
payment recipients were more than twice
as likely to report saving a portion of their
refund.

How Families Spent Their EITC Periodic

Payment
Other 4%

Ninety percent of participants expressed a preference at

Savings 3% Social Mobility

1%

Gifts/Treats 6%

project completion for the periodic payment model over a

single lump-sum. They were overwhelmingly positive about
their experience. One remarked that it is nice to have extra
money to attend to and balance out monthly expenses and

Debt/Bills 46%
Current
Consumption
40%

to be in a position to save for emergencies and rainy days.

In the months since the completion of the pilot, CEP has
had numerous inquiries from participants seeking to obtain
advances on next years EITC.

9 out of 10 participants expressed a preference for period payments over a single lump-sum.
7.

Periodic EITC payments improve nancial stability.

Payments Diminish Debt Accumulation and Late Fees
At enrollment, both the payment and control groups had similar rates of borrowing from family and friends. At project
completion, the control group reported borrowing from family and friends at nearly twice the rate of the EITC
periodic payment recipients. At the nal survey, control group participants were almost twice as likely to report having
a payday loan, and there was a 45% reduction in pay day loan usage among intervention group participants between
the baseline and nal surveys. Analysis of a small sample of credit reports and transcripts of the focus groups provided
evidence that the payments lessened accumulation of new debt. At project completion, those in the control group were
more than twice as likely as the payment group to report having paid late fees in the prior two months.
Payments Appear to Reduce Financial Stress for Improved Mental Health

Participants

The EITC periodic payments appeared to provide a buffer against a number of nancial stresses. At project completion,
control group members were twice as likely as those who had received payments to report higher levels of stress
regarding their ability to make ends meet compared to the prior year. The
Difference in Pay Day Loan and Late Fees
42.7%
Personal Health Questionnaire (PHQ8) revealed a difference in reported
Control
depressive symptoms between the two groups, with over twice as many
Intervention
in the control group indicating depressive symptoms. These differences
18.3%
15.5%
cannot be attributed to the EITC periodic payments due to the absence of
8.1%
baseline data, but the signicant difference does highlight an area of inquiry
for future research.
Has a Pay Day Loan
Paid Late Fees in Last 2 Months

4. Recommendations
The pilot provides strong evidence that a periodic EITC payment could help improve the nancial stability of working
families. Furthermore, participants who received periodic EITC payments in 2014 and 2015 found it to be attractive option.
Based on its experience leading the EITC pilot, and building on its work with tens of thousands of low-income taxpayers,
the Center for Economic Progress calls for creating an advance EITC periodic payment option and promoting it to working
parents with children.
Administration
The IRS, as the administrator of the tax code, needs to assume
a lead role in establishing a periodic payment framework and
seeking any administrative or Congressional authority needed
to proceed. CEPs experience with the Chicago EITC Periodic
Payment Pilot argues for limiting eligibility to taxpayers who:
1) File tax returns with qualifying children;
2) Received the EITC for the previous year;
3) Have consistently met their tax ling obligations;
4) Will receive at least $600 in EITC;
5) Can predict with an acceptable level of condence that they
will receive the EITC again for the current tax year; and
6) Are willing to report economic and family changes during
the year in order to modify prepayment amounts. To minimize
administrative costs, payments would be directly deposited by
electronic fund transfer to established accounts.

The IRS would need to make several processing changes

in order to effectively administer such a program. At the
time of tax ling, taxpayers would request to participate in
the program by ling an additional tax form that includes
computation of their estimated EITC for the upcoming
year. The IRS would need to be able to:
1) approve participation in the program no later than the
end of May in order for payments to commence by
June;
2) have successfully provided a refund via direct deposit
to the taxpayers for the prior years tax return;
3) have a mechanism for account management to allow
for updates to the taxpayers EITC eligibility amount
and direct deposit information; and,
4) develop a method for reconciliation of the advance
payments on the years tax return.
8.

Taxpayer Awareness & Education

A major benet of the tax return being the point of entry to receiving EITC periodic payments is that tax preparers
could notify a taxpayer of their potential eligibility. A tax preparer is in a better position to determine and explain
eligibility for a tax credit than an employer. For taxpayers who prepare their own tax returns, prompts and queries
embedded into tax software can notify them of their potential eligibility and the benets of participation.
In addition, the IRS could communicate annually with taxpayers who have consistently received the EITC for multiple
years. Marketing and awareness campaigns, conducted by private and non-prot sector partners, could highlight
the potential use of periodic payments. Due to the tendency for individuals to resist change, we strongly advocate
marketing and awareness campaigns that highlight specic benets of the new payment option, such as helping meet
expenses that occur periodically throughout the year like summer programs for children, back to school clothes and
fees, heating bills during peak months, and gifts during holiday seasons.

Moving Forward
CEP believes that for many families a periodic
payment model, with payments made in advance
of normal disbursement of the annual tax refund, is
preferable to a lump sum refund at the end of the
year. Our pilot has demonstrated how it would allow
taxpayers to use periodic EITC payments during
the year to mitigate nancial instability and debt
accumulation. We remain dedicated to rigorous
inquiry into alternative disbursement methods of
the EITC and anticipate that further research would
identify different payment models and potentially
different timing.

It is unacceptable to accept

Regardless of future studies, the evidence from

CEPs pilot is clear: spreading out a portion of the
tax refund payment makes sense. CEP stands willing
to conduct an expanded pilot to recruit a larger and
more demographically diverse group of EITC tax
lers, provide an opportunity to test various payment
options, assess administrative feasibility more
completely, better understand consumer preferences
and demand, and continue to evaluate the impact
on household nancial stability. It is critical that any
changes to the EITC are carefully researched and that
taxpayers provide input and feedback in order to best
meet their needs.

to address these problems. Ignoring

the status quo in which wages

stagnate and workers face growing
employment volatility and nancial
instability. The continued growth
of the average tax refund for EITC
recipients presents an opportunity

this opportunity to create a more

efcient tax policy will continue
to erode the nancial stability of
millions of struggling American
families.

9.

5. Conclusion
The EITC lifts millions of households

The Center for Economic Progress (CEP) helps low-income

out of poverty each year, but the

working families as a trusted provider of tax and nancial

current disbursement method is

services. As one of the nations largest free tax preparation

poorly suited to help recipients

programs, operating under the IRS Volunteer Income Tax

year round. Low income workers

Assistance (VITA) mantle, CEP has served more than 370,000

experience monthly uctuations in

income and expenses and rely on
high-cost credit, predatory lending
and nancial assistance from family
and friends to make ends meet.
While the EITC provides a critical

families since 1990 and generated $560 million in federal and

state tax refunds. CEP also operates a legal clinic, representing
hundreds of taxpayers annually in controversies with the IRS.
Additionally, CEP has built a growing menu of nancial capability
services that help participants improve their condence and
attitudes concerning money management, demonstrate
improved nancial habits, increase savings, reduce debt and

boost during the tax season, it does

improve credit. CEPs tax and nancial services reach more

little to improve nancial stability year

than 24,000 families and individuals each year, and we mobilize

round. A periodic payment option

more than 900 volunteers who give their time and talents to

can provide the nancial benet of

make this possible.

the EITC when recipients need it. It

is administratively feasible, attractive

CEP has a long-standing commitment to and interest in the

to taxpayers and could improve

EITC as a core tax policy that positively impacts the nancial

the nancial stability of millions of

well-being of low-income families. Working at the state level,

American families.

CEP helped to establish the Illinois EITC in 1990 and facilitated

its expansion in 2012. At the national level, CEP has leveraged
its data and experience in serving tens of thousands of EITC
taxpayers by testifying before Congress and working with
multiple administrations to both maintain and grow the credit
while ensuring that eligible taxpayers continue to have access.
CEP also worked with Illinois Governors and Chicago Mayors
Daley & Emanuel to build awareness and knowledge of the
EITC, encouraging low-income workers to claim the credit
whether they le through CEP, or through a paid preparer.

Visit us at: www.economicprogress.org

David Marzahl
President & CEO
Tel: (312) 630-0250
dmarzahl@economicprogress.org
10.

This report is a work product of the Center for Economic Progress and cannot be used, reproduced, or distributed without
the written consent of the Center for Economic Progress, 567 W. Lake Street, Suite 1150, Chicago, IL 60661. Contact
info@economicprogress.org for more information. 2015 Center for Economic Progress. Additional editorial support
provided by: Satori Bailey, Alexander Costakis, Barbara DelBene, Sayer LaGalle, Paul Harrison, Steve Holt, Jessica Qian,
Brian Rivera.

Ruby Mendenhall et al., The Role of Earned Income Tax Credit in the Budgets of Low-Income Households, 2012.

Economic Policy Institute, The Wedges Between Productivity and Median Compensation Growth, 2012.

National Employment Law Project, An Unbalanced Recovery: Real Wage and Job Growth Trends, 2014

Economic Policy Institute, Irregular Work Scheduling and Its Consequences, 2015

The Pew Charitable Trusts, Americans Financial Security, 2015

http://www.bls.gov/cex/tables.htm

Amy Traub and Catherine Ruetschlin, The Plastic Safety Net: Findings from the 2012 National Survey on Credit Debt of
Low and Middle Income Households, 2012.

http://www.bankrate.com/calculators/credit-cards/debt-calculator.aspx

Bankrate, Financial Security Index, 2013

10

Kristin Moore et al., Poverty and Welfare Patterns: Implications for Children, 2002.

11

http://www.eitc.irs.gov/EITC-Central/eitcstats

12

See http://www.safetyweb.org/fpl2014.php for calculation methods

13

Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, EITC and Child Tax Credit Promote Work, Reduce Poverty, and Support Childrens
Development, Research Finds, 2015

14

Steve Holt, The Earned Income Tax Credit at Age 30: What We Know, 2006; Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, Policy
Basics: The Earned Income Tax Credit, 2015; Economic Policy Institute, The Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax
Credit, 2013.

15

Kathryn Edin and Lauren Lein, Making Ends Meet: How Single Mothers Survive Welfare and Low-Wage Work, 1997;
Sherrie Rhine et al., Householder Response to the Earned Income Tax Credit: Path of Sustenance of Road to Asset
Building, 2006; Timothy Smeeding, Katherin Ross Phillips, and Michael

16

Amy Traub and Catherine Ruetschlin, The Plastic Safety Net: Findings from the 2012 National Survey on Credit Debt of
Low and Middle Income Households, 2012.

17

Ruby Mendenhall et al., The Role of Earned Income Tax Credit in the Budgets of Low-Income Households, 2012.

18

For further details on low utilization of the Advance EITC, see: Timothy Smeeding, Katherin Ross Phillips, and Michael
OConnor, The EITC: Expectation, Knowledge, Use, and Economic and Social Mobility, 2000; Steve Holt, Beyond Lump
Sum: Periodic Payment of the Earned Income Tax Credit, 2009; Damon Jones, Information, Preferences, and Public
Benet Participation: Experimental Evidence from the Advance EITC and 401(k) Savings, 2010.

19

For full background on the Periodic EITC Payment, see Steve Holt, Periodic Payment of the Earned Income Tax Credit,

20

The PHQ8 was added to the third and fourth surveys, therefore there is no baseline data available. The differences

2008.
between the intervention and control groups did not substantially change between the third and fourth surveys.
Therefore, the presented differences cannot be attributed to the EITC periodic payments but the signicant difference
does highlight an area of inquiry for future research.

11.