The Earned Income Tax Credit provides a boost in family income to more than 27 million working households across the United States. Over the past 20 years, 24 states have also adopted EITCs to provide additional support. This brief examines changes in children's health outcomes in the 14 states that adopted EITCs from 1996 to 2006.
The number of states offering their own EITC supplements to working families has increased steadily over the last 20 years, with 24 states now offering a credit in addition to the federal EITC.
States with an EITC saw a shift in children's health coverage, with more kids being covered by private health plans (8.4% increase) and fewer kids being covered by public health plans such as Medicaid and SCHIPs (13.9% decrease).
Children were much more likely to receive preventive health and dental care after their state adopted EITC. Notably, children's annual dental visits increased 21% in the year following EITC adoption.
There was a 2.5% increase in the number of moms who reported their child to be in "excellent health" after their state implemented EITC. Even accounting for other factors, the increase in excellent health status was significant for children ages 11 to 14.
One of the primary goals of the EITC is to help lift children in low-wage working families out of poverty, which may in turn improve children's health by making medical care and other healthy behaviors more affordable. While not the only factor, the state-level EITC appears to correlate to improved children's health outcomes on several measures, including: 1) more children were covered by private health insurance than public programs; 2) kids were more likely to receive preventive medical and dental care; and 3) mothers reported improved health status for their children, including a healthier body mass index.
