Essay Recommends Making Work Pay

The Urban Institute released a series of essays in July which explore ways in which safety net programs can be improved to provide economic benefits to low income families. In an essay entitled Making Work Pay Enough: A Decent Standard of Living for Working Families, Gregory Acs and Margery Austin Turner conclude public programs, as currently constructed, fail to “make work pay”. They offer three recommendations which they believe will increase the income of these families and create greater opportunities for families to move up society’s economic ladder.

First, they believe making changes to the earned income tax credit (EITC) and the federal child care tax credit will increase the purchasing power of a low-income family. Second, they call for the creation of a refundable tax credit for families who rent or own a home yet receive no federal housing subsidies to help boost their purchasing power for housing. Finally, they call for an expansion of affordable housing in areas where the need is greatest.

Jared Bernstein of the Economic Policy Institute and John C. Weicher of the Hudson Institute offer critiques to this essay.

Questions and Answers with G. Thomas Kingsley of The Urban Institute.

As part of its 40th anniversary celebration, The Urban Institute has interviewed many of its research experts on a variety of relevant urban-related topics. In this interview posted in July Kingsley answers questions about the sub-prime mortgage crisis.

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http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121781107977608809.html?mod=opinion_main_commentaries

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