by Steve Holt, Kali Grant and Funke Aderonmu | Nov 16, 2020 | Data & Workbooks, Report
Refundable tax credits are powerful tools for advancing economic security and opportunity, reducing poverty, and improving the lives of families in need. Despite their successes, these tax credits are limited by a key misalignment: unaffordable living expenses, unstable pay, and persistent hardship are experienced consistently or unpredictably throughout the year, unlike the single annual tax credit disbursement. This report provides a framework for policymakers and advocates seeking to create periodic payment options that align tax credit disbursement timing to need and advance economic, racial, and gender equity. The report also outlines specific periodic payment design recommendations for the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit, including flexible disbursement options.
by Funke Aderonmu, Sophie Khan and Cara Brumfield | Dec 13, 2019 | Fact Sheet
Census data help guide the distribution of federal funds for programs that serve millions of women and girls with low incomes. The data also help us make decisions about how to support women, girls, and their communities. This fact sheet, published jointly with the National Women’s Law Center, highlights barriers to fairly and accurately counting women and girls in the decennial census and programs that could be impacted by an inaccurate count.
by Melissa Boteach, Amy Matsui, Kali Grant, Funke Aderonmu, Rachel Black and Indi Dutta-Gupta | Nov 15, 2019 | Fact Sheet, Report
This report, published jointly with the National Women’s Law Center, offers a new vision for a tax code that works for women, people of color, and low- and moderate-income families. Centuries of racist, sexist policy choices and discrimination have created significant barriers for women and people of color to build the kind of wealth our tax code now rewards. At the same time, insufficient tax revenues—exacerbated by tax breaks for the wealthy and corporations—constrain budgets for programs that help people afford their basic needs. The paper proposes a framework to help policymakers, advocates, and the public evaluate when and how refundable tax credits can advance equity, economic mobility, and opportunity for all.
