Linking Tax Refunds and Low-Cost Bank Accounts: A Social Development Strategy for Low-Income Families?

This article describes a pilot program encouraging low-income workers to have their tax refunds directly deposited into low-cost bank accounts. The program did not lead to substantial saving and asset accumulation in the short-term. However, surveys and interviews suggest that the program helped some participants spend money more slowly and more thoughtfully, introduced some to account ownership or direct deposit, and encouraged some to obtain other mainstream financial products. Thus, the program may have helped low-income families “get on track” for future saving and asset accumulation

Policy Recommendations for Meeting the Grand Challenge to Reduce Extreme Economic Inequality

This brief was created forSocial Innovation for America’s Renewal, a policy conference organized by the Center for Social Development in collaboration with the American Academy of Social Work & Social Welfare, which is leading theGrand Challenges for Social Work initiative to champion social progress. The conference site includes links to speeches, presentations, and a full list of the policy briefs

Local mandate improves equity of paid sick leave coverage: Seattle’s experience

Abstract Background Paid sick leave allows workers to take time off work for personal or family health needs, improving health and potentially limiting infectious diseases. The U.S. has no national sick leave mandate, and many American workers - particularly those at lower income levels - have no right to paid time off for their own or family members’ health needs. This article reports on outcomes of a local mandate, the City of Seattle Paid Sick and Safe Time Ordinance, which requires certain employers to provide paid sick leave to eligible workers. Methods Survey collectors contacted a stratified random sample of Seattle employers before the Ordinance went into effect and one year later. Pre- and post- analysis draws on responses to survey items by 345 employers who were subject to the paid sick leave mandate. Results Awareness of the policy and provision of paid leave grew significantly over the year after the Ordinance was enacted. More employers offered leave to full-time workers (80.8 to 93.9%, p < .001) and part-time workers (47.1 to 66.7%, p < .001) with particularly large increases in the hospitality sector, which includes food workers (coverage of any hospitality employee: 27.5 to 85.0%, p < .001). Conclusions Absent a federal policy, local paid sick time mandates can increase paid sick leave coverage, an important social determinant of health

How Much Does Work Pay? New Data on Combined Marginal Tax Rates

This paper summarizes new evidence about the incidence and correlates of the Marginal Tax Rates (MTRs) and possible labor supply effects under a reasonably current policy regime. In prior work, the author used a unique longitudinal data set consisting of state human services caseload data merged with Unemployment Insurance and Department of Revenue data to calculate the incidence of high MTRs for Wisconsin residents in 2000 (Holt & Romich, 2007). This study reports on an extension of this work that involves linking additional data from 2001 and 2002 to the original data and describing longitudinal patterns

The U.S. Safety Net since the Great Recession: Trends and Reforms, 2007-2017.

The negative impacts of the Great Recession (GR) (2007 to 2009) on the lives of families with low incomes warrant social work concerns about how well antipoverty policy responded to meet economic needs over this period and since. Given America's long-standing tension between welfare state adequacy and market-oriented policies, how well did the safety net respond to the economic downturn? Did GR-era changes reverse or accelerate trends in public assistance? This article examines key policy changes and indicators of caseloads, inclusion, and generosity for three antipoverty policies: the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamp Program), and the Earned Income Tax Credit from 2007 to 2017. Authors' analysis shows a continuation of market-oriented U.S. antipoverty policy. Authors argue that the reemphasis of conditioning benefits on employment undermines the countercyclical feature of the social safety net and perpetuates the inequitable redistribution of public resources between those inside and outside of the labor market. Authors discuss social workers' role in strengthening antipoverty policies to improve the economic well-being of people with low incomes and the economic justice of the social safety net

The U.S. Safety Net since the Great Recession: Trends and Reforms, 2007-2017.

The negative impacts of the Great Recession (GR) (2007 to 2009) on the lives of families with low incomes warrant social work concerns about how well antipoverty policy responded to meet economic needs over this period and since. Given America's long-standing tension between welfare state adequacy and market-oriented policies, how well did the safety net respond to the economic downturn? Did GR-era changes reverse or accelerate trends in public assistance? This article examines key policy changes and indicators of caseloads, inclusion, and generosity for three antipoverty policies: the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamp Program), and the Earned Income Tax Credit from 2007 to 2017. Authors' analysis shows a continuation of market-oriented U.S. antipoverty policy. Authors argue that the reemphasis of conditioning benefits on employment undermines the countercyclical feature of the social safety net and perpetuates the inequitable redistribution of public resources between those inside and outside of the labor market. Authors discuss social workers' role in strengthening antipoverty policies to improve the economic well-being of people with low incomes and the economic justice of the social safety net

Reversing Extreme Inequality

Extreme economic inequality has taken hold in the United States. Fostered in part by misguided policies and intentional choices, it can be reversed through purposeful action. However, social policies created for the industrial age face relentless political opposition and are not meeting the social welfare challenges of the information age. a new social contract is required. This paper elaborates key components of that contract, identifying social innovations to increase income at the bottom of society and reduce wealth disparities. Through such innovations, the United States can reverse extreme economic inequality. Because of social work’s history in addressing injustice and reforming policy, the profession is uniquely positioned to take on this challenge and has critical roles to play in addressing it