Income Assistance, Marriage, and Child Poverty: An Assessment of the Family Security Act

Arbeitspapier

The Covid-19 pandemic has brought about changes in key income support programs, reigniting a debate about the design of financial aid to low-income households with children. In this study we assess the Family Security Act - a proposal presented by Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) on February 4, 2021 to reform the tax/transfer system-in terms of its efficacy to achieve the stated objectives of increasing marriage rates and cutting child poverty at no cost to the government. The assessment is carried out through a structural microsimulation approach, using a dynamic model of savings, labor supply, household formation, and marital status. We find that while the plan would be highly effective at increasing marriage, it would reduce child poverty at the expense of increasing poverty among single-mother families and child deep poverty. Furthermore, the plan would entail a substantial cost to taxpayers.

Object Details

• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Series: ECON WPS - Working Papers in Economic Theory and Policy ; No. 07/2021

Classification and Topics

• Classification: Wirtschaft ; Macroeconomics: Consumption; Saving; Wealth ; Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies; includes inheritance and gift taxes ; Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents: Household ; Marriage; Marital Dissolution; Family Structure; Domestic Abuse
• Subject: Income Support ; household decisions ; cohabitation and marriage ; poverty

Contributors, Places and Time

• Event: Geistige Schöpfung
• (who): Ortigueira, Salvador ; Siassi, Nawid
• Event: Veröffentlichung
• (who): TU Wien, Institute of Statistics and Mathematical Methods in Economics, Research Unit in Economics
• (where): Vienna
• (when): 2021

Further information

• Handle: http://hdl.handle.net/10419/244730
• Last update: 10.03.2025, 11:45 AM CET