Meet the Researcher with Elaine Maag of the Urban Institute

Research consistently shows that investing in children from low-income families is one of the most effective ways to reduce child poverty, improve children’s health, and help families build a better future for their children.

About 30 percent of federal spending on children is delivered through the income tax system, making it the largest category of federal support for children. Three tax benefits account for 95 percent of all tax-related spending on children: the Child Tax Credit (CTC, 54 percent), the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC, 27 percent), and the exclusion for employer-sponsored health insurance (14 percent).

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act’s (OBBBA) changes to the CTC and other programs, such as tax benefits for child care, the adoption tax credit, and new tax-advantaged savings accounts for children known as “Trump accounts” are projected to increase total tax benefits for children by over $30 billion in fiscal year 2034. Urban Institute’s research demonstrates that these increased benefits will primarily go to middle- and high-income families, raising concerns about whether the policy will effectively address child poverty and promote equity.

Join the Tax Equity Funders Network on December 11th to learn more about this research and how charitable foundations can work to address equity in the tax code and tax systems.

This program is open to staff of charitable foundations, philanthropic infrastructure organizations, and consultants to philanthropy working for member foundations.

Speakers:

• Elaine Maag, Urban Institute