When Taxes Aren’t a Drag

Most Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) recipients in Laura Tach and Kathryn Edin’s sample used their refund dollars wisely, to pay off debt, purchase big-ticket items associated with getting ahead (like a used car), and build their savings. But interviews also revealed less tangible benefits, Tach and Edin write in The New York Times:

While decades of research has shown that other anti-poverty programs tend to confer stigma, isolating the poor from mainstream society, this tax credit generates strong feelings of inclusion and hope for upward mobility.