A Reference Manual for Child Tax Benefits

Describes the dependent exemption, child tax credit, earned income tax credit, child and dependent care tax credit, flexible spending accounts, and higher education credits. Discusses the complexity of child tax benefits and proposed reforms

Kids' Share 2010: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children

Examines 1960-2009 trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children, including food stamps, tax credits, and Head Start. Analyzes the effects of American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funding, projected funding through 2020, and implications

How Targeted Are Federal Expenditures on Children? A Kids' Share Analysis of Expenditures by Income in 2009

Analyzes the distribution of government spending on children by family income; category, such as health, social services, and education; and program, such as Medicaid; and the extent to which it is targeted to low-income children. Considers implications

Essays on the Effects of Social Insurance for Disability

This dissertation examines how social insurance, family support and work capacity enhance individuals' economic well-being following significant health and income shocks. I first examine the extent to which the liquidity-enhancing effects of Worker's Compensation (WC) benefits outweigh the moral hazard costs. Analyzing administrative data from Oregon, I estimate a hazard model exploiting variation in the timing and size of a retroactive lump-sum WC payment to decompose the elasticity of claim duration with respect to benefits into the elasticity with respect to an increase in cash on hand, and a decrease in the opportunity cost of missing work. I find that the liquidity effect accounts for 60 to 65 percent of the increase in claim duration among lower-wage workers, but less than half of the increase for higher earners. Using the framework from Chetty (2008), I conclude that the insurance value of WC exceeds the distortionary cost, and increasing the benefit level could increase social welfare. Next, I investigate how government-provided disability insurance (DI) interacts with private transfers to disabled individuals from their grown children. Using the Health and Retirement Study, I estimate a fixed effects, difference in differences regression to compare transfers between DI recipients and two control groups: rejected applicants and a reweighted sample of disabled non-applicants. I find that DI reduces the probability of receiving a transfer by no more than 3 percentage points, or 10 percent. Additional analysis reveals that DI could increase the probability of receiving a transfer in cases where children had limited prior information about the disability, suggesting that DI could send a welfare-improving information signal. Finally, Zachary Morris and I examine how a functional assessment could complement medical evaluations in determining eligibility for disability benefits and in targeting return to work interventions. We analyze claimants' self-reported functional capacity in a survey of current DI beneficiaries to estimate the share of disability claimants able to do work-related activity. We estimate that 13 percent of current DI beneficiaries are capable of work-related activity. Furthermore, other characteristics of these higher-functioning beneficiaries are positively correlated with employment, making them an appropriate target for return to work interventions

Kids' Share 2011: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children Through 2010

Examines trends in federal, state, and local spending and tax expenditures on children in 2010 and during the recession, their share of federal outlays and the economy since 1960, and projected 2011-20 spending. Analyzes the impact of stimulus funding

WI20-02: Firm Investment, Labor Supply, and the Design of Social Insurance: Evidence from Accommodations for Workplace Disability

This study analyzes the determinants of older adults’ nursing home use expectations, their relationship with actual nursing home use in the future, and the association between nursing home use expectations and older adults’ decisions regarding wealth accumulation.Long-term care represents a significant cost to older adults in the US, and nursing home use is an important part of long-term care. It is therefore important to understand how older adults make nursing home-related decisions. This study analyzes the determinants of older adults’ nursing home use expectations, their relationship with actual nursing home use in the future, and the association between nursing home use expectations and older adults’ decisions regarding wealth accumulation. The findings indicate that older adults update their nursing home use expectations rationally and their nursing home use expectations have strong predictive power for actual nursing home use in the future, but these expectations are not statistically significantly associated with wealth accumulation.Center for Financial Security, Retirement and Disability Research Consortium, U.S. Social Security Administratio

WI22-02: Exploring Worker and Firm Characteristics that Drive Use of Accommodation for Workers with Disabilities

While several policy proposals advocate for more employer responsibility in encouraging workers to return to work after injury and disability, few studies have analyzed existing employer-based return to work programs in the U.S. or considered employer and employee factors that may facilitate or inhibit employers’ incentives to accommodate workers after injury. Using administrative data from three unique accommodation programs in Oregon’s workers’ compensation system, we document dispersion in accommodation rates across arrange of worker, firm, and injury characteristics. Then, we use variance decomposition and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition methods to estimate the extent to which variation in use of these programs can be explained by observable factors and the extent to which unobserved barriers may affect employer and worker decisions to pursue workplace accommodation after disability. Firm effects are the largest driver of accommodation for temporary disabilities, while injury characteristics explain more of the variation in accommodation rates for permanent disabilities and vocational rehabilitation