6/6: Clear trade-offs: this CTC is more targeted & less work-incentivizing relative to @kearney_melissa's proposals. It redirects some current MoE resources. It is sensitive to federal CTC changes. Yet: it’s an affordable, efficient option for state govts to reduce child poverty.

5/ How does the Targeted CTC compare to existing state CTCs? It avoids the large benefit cliffs present in many states, generally offers a higher maximum benefit level, but phases out at much earlier level. A good ‘starter pack’ for states currently lacking a refundable CTC.

4/ Are the resources well-targeted? Yes! The cost per individual moved out of deep poverty is substantially lower for the targeted CTC relative to SNAP, EITC, or TANF cash. By design, the targeted CTC is primarily reaching the lowest-income HHs.

3/ Does it reduce poverty? Yes! The Targeted CTC could reduce child poverty rates for the average state by 10%, and could reduce deep child poverty by 21%. Not bad given its price-tag, which I’ll show next.

3/ How to fund a Targeted CTC? States can use their TANF MoE resources to cover the bulk of the costs (see paper to get into the weeds of MoE and why it works). The average state could cover 61% of the targeted CTC costs using MoE funds (otherwise, less than 2% of state revenues)

2/ What does the Targeted CTC look like? It's designed to reach families who do not receive the full value of the federal CTC due to low earnings. When combined, the federal + Targeted CTCs create a universal child benefit that does not increase fams' effective marginal tax rates

New at JPAM: What can state governments do to reduce child poverty? I propose a Targeted Child Tax Credit – a fully-refundable CTC funded mostly through TANF that reduces child poverty with a low overall cost, no benefit cliffs & high spending efficiency.🧵

RT @StephenPJenkin1: Hurrah: the write-up of my Ruggles Lecture (with @MikeBrewerEcon and @nyecominetti) now out in Review of Income and We….

RT @christinajcross: Coming to a bookstore near you this fall! Pre-order link available soon—stay tuned!.

New at @JPubEcon w/ @LukasLehner_ & @natewilmers: Personal earnings inequality finally declined in the US from 2010-2022. Simultanously, household income inequality continued its decades-long rise. What explains the discordant inequality trends? Read here:

RT @clpignatti: New article with @ZParolin in the @ILRReview . We look at the effects of the withdrawal of generous unemployment benefits.….

RT @AEAjournals: Stricter environmental regulations on US ship exhaust significantly improved the health of newborn babies near coastal are….

RT @trajan317: Tonight I found out that the NSF math postdoctoral fellowship I applied for is being deleted because it does not comply with….

RT @abdallah_fayyad: Had a good conversation with @ZParolin about why poor kids in the US are so much more likely to become poor adults tha….

RT @voxdotcom: Poor kids in the US are likely to become poor adults. More government support during adulthood could change that. https://t.….

RT @NuffieldCollege: 📢Calling all social science scholars from and/or researching Italy: applications for the 2025-26 Jemolo Fellowships ar….

RT @karun1710: We’re hiring a Research Engineer at @Arsenal ⚽️ to help accelerate our applied research efforts!. We’re building state-of-th….

RT @annapappp: I'm on the job market! My #EconJMP examines climate adaptation inequality in labor markets (see ⬇️). This is part of my wor….

What did we learn from the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion? What's next for the CTC? Join us online on Jan. 30 for this @hamiltonproj event to discuss findings from our recent ANNALS volume w/ @HilaryHoynes & @MeganACurran. See the all-star lineup below!

2/2: And here is the underlying paper at Nature Human Behavior, for those interested in diving deeper into the topic and our findings: