scholarly journals State and Federal Approaches to Health Reform: What Works for the Working Poor?

2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Meara ◽  
Meredith B Rosenthal ◽  
Anna D. Sinaiko ◽  
Katherine Baicker
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Tax Credits ◽  
Work Status ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
Working Families ◽  
Market Consequences ◽  
Medicaid Expansions

We compare and contrast the labor market and distributional impact of three common approaches to state and federal health insurance expansion: public insurance expansions, refundable tax credits for low income people, and employer and individual mandates. We draw on existing estimates from the literature and individual-level data on the non-institutionalized population aged 64 and younger from the 2005 Current Population Survey to estimate how each approach affects (1) the number of people insured; (2) private and public health spending; (3) employment and wages; and (4) the distribution of subsidies across families based on income in relation to the federal poverty level and work status of adult family members. Employer mandates expand coverage to the largest number of previously insured relative to public insurance expansions and individual tax credits, but with potentially negative labor market consequences. Medicaid expansions could achieve moderate reductions in the share of the uninsured with neutral labor market consequences, and by definition, they expand coverage to the poorest groups regardless of work status. Tax credits extend coverage to relatively few uninsured, but with neutral effects on the labor market. Both Medicaid expansions and tax credits offer moderate redistribution to previously insured individuals who are poor or near-poor. None of the three policies significantly expand insurance coverage among poor working families. Our findings suggest that no single approach helps the working poor in exactly the ways policy makers might hope. To the extent that states are motivated to help the uninsured in poor working families, health reforms must find ways to include those unlikely to take up optional policies, and states must address the challenge of the many uninsured likely to be excluded from policies based on part-time work status, firm size, or immigration status.

scholarly journals Stress and the working poor

Human Affairs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Řimnáčová ◽  
Alena Kajanová
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Mental State ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Entire Family

Abstract The working poor are not a clearly defined group. There are still people who work full-time, but have incomes bordering on poverty level. They tend to remain in work despite their low wages simply to avoid becoming unemployed and risk social exclusion. However, working in low-income jobs for long periods creates stress and gives rise to further problems. Stress affects sleep patterns and leads to problems associated with food intake and nutrition, and thus to disorders of the gastrointestinal system. Cardiovascular and neurological disorders may occur too. A lack of finances, and the stresses stemming from that are statistically significant and a strong predictor of a worse mental state. There is also a higher probability of psychosis occurring. All this affects the entire family, especially children. The inability to invest money and time in their development is another consequence.

When Working Harder Does Not Pay: Low-Income Working Families, Tax Liabilities, and Benefit Reductions

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Romich ◽  
Jennifer Simmelink ◽  
Stephen D. Holt
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Working Families ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Implicit Taxation

Under some circumstances, recent reforms to policies that affect the working poor create a barrier to workers who try to increase their families' financial well-being through greater earnings. As earnings rise, benefits are reduced and taxes increase. Together these two factors may mean that accepting a raise or working more hours may not make a worker's family better off financially. This article presents an analysis of the extent of implicit taxation and describes how low-wage workers experience this phenomenon. We address three areas: how benefit programs and the tax system together create high combined tax rates, the implications of this system for low-income families' well-being, and finally, suggestions for practice and reform.

Low-Income Working Families With Employer-Sponsored Insurance Turn To Public Insurance For Their Children

2016 ◽  
Vol 35 (12) ◽  
pp. 2302-2309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas Strane ◽  
Benjamin French ◽  
Jennifer Eder ◽  
Charlene A. Wong ◽  
Kathleen G. Noonan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
Working Families

scholarly journals Strategy of the regional development and analysis of poverty and the national labor market in Russia

2021 ◽  
Vol 94 ◽  
pp. 01036
Author(s):  
Irina Omelchenko ◽  
Vladimir Smirnov ◽  
Marina Danilina ◽  
Oleg Dozortzev ◽  
Alexander Vas’kov
Keyword(s):  
Labor Market ◽  
Regional Development ◽  
Integrated Approach ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Public Authorities ◽  
Active Involvement ◽  
The Russian Federation ◽  
Working Poverty

The strategy of the regional development must include the possible solutions of the poverty problem. On the basis of the statistical and content analysis the authors research the main trends and indicators of poverty in the regions of Russia and the labor market. The authors present the results of the research of activities of regional programs to reduce the proportion of the population with incomes below the subsistence level.Based on the study, the following conclusions can be drawn: working poor is a consequence of the existing economic system of the Russian Federation;the problem of reducing working poverty is long-term;the problem of reducing the poverty level of workers requires an integrated approach that combines economic and social policies.Addressing the problem of the working poor requires the active involvement of public authorities.

A Health Insurance Tax Credit for Uninsured Workers

2001 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lawrence Zelenak
Keyword(s):  
Health Insurance ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Health Insurance Coverage ◽  
Tax Credits ◽  
Tax Credit ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Insurance Tax ◽  
Age And Sex

This paper describes a new system of tax credits to help low-income workers pay for health insurance. The system would be designed to subsidize health insurance coverage for workers who are currently uninsured, or who pay high premiums for nongroup insurance. Anyone age 19 or older who is not covered by Medicaid, Medicare, or employer-sponsored health insurance would be eligible for a health insurance tax credit (HITC), administered through the Internal Revenue Service. The base amount of the proposed credit would be $2,000 per year for each covered individual, but this amount would be adjusted for the individual's age and sex, according to the effect of age and sex on the cost of insurance coverage. The base amount of the credit would be reduced by $150 for every $1,000 by which a person's income exceeded 200% of the federal poverty level, thus limiting HITC eligibility to lower-income workers. To encourage participation in the credit program, most of the credit would be available through an advance payment system, with final reconciliation after year's end.

THE EARNED INCOME CREDIT: HISTORICAL PREDECESSORS AND CONTEMPORARY EVOLUTION

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Cataldo
Keyword(s):  
Delivery System ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Committee Chairman ◽  
Contemporary Evolution ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Earned Income ◽  
Finance Committee ◽  
Family Assistance ◽  
History Of

The Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993 (RRA93) significantly expanded the earned income credit (EIC), which was changed to include low-income taxpayers without dependents. Evolving, most directly, from the “workfare” plan (1972) proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Russel B. Long, and in response to President Nixon's Family Assistance Program (FAP), the post-1974 EIC was not the first of its kind. It had two predecessors. The EIC of 1923 through 1931 benefitted taxpayers with or without dependents and excluded any “workfare” feature. A second EIC, in name only, was in effect for the 1934 through 1943 tax years. This paper develops a historical framework for study of the post-1974 EIC. This framework necessarily precedes any investigation of contemporary issues relating to the twenty-year history of the post-1974 EIC which, unlike its first predecessor, appears destined to continue as a permanent, expanding mechanism for the delivery of basic subsistence to the “working poor.” The resolution of these contemporary issues will determine whether the post-1974 EIC is destined to replace or continue to co-exist with a (presumably) more costly welfare delivery system.

scholarly journals Greenspace, Air Pollution, Neighborhood Factors, and Preeclampsia in a Population-Based Case-Control Study in California

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (10) ◽  
pp. 5127
Author(s):  
Kari A. Weber ◽  
Wei Yang ◽  
Evan Lyons ◽  
David K. Stevenson ◽  
Amy M. Padula ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Particulate Matter ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Vegetation Index ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Effect Modification ◽  
Severe Preeclampsia ◽  
Quality Data ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Neighborhood Factors

To investigate preeclampsia etiologies, we examined relationships between greenspace, air pollution, and neighborhood factors. Data were from hospital records and geocoded residences of 77,406 women in San Joaquin Valley, California from 2000 to 2006. Preeclampsia was divided into mild, severe, or superimposed onto pre-existing hypertension. Greenspace within 100 and 500 m residential buffers was estimated from satellite data using normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI). Air quality data were averaged over pregnancy from daily 24-h averages of nitrogen dioxide, particulate matter <10 µm (PM10) and <2.5 µm (PM2.5), and carbon monoxide. Neighborhood socioeconomic (SES) factors included living below the federal poverty level and median annual income using 2000 US Census data. Odds of preeclampsia were estimated using logistic regression. Effect modification was assessed using Wald tests. More greenspace (500 m) was inversely associated with superimposed preeclampsia (OR = 0.57). High PM2.5 and low SES were associated with mild and severe preeclampsia. We observed differences in associations between greenspace (500 m) and superimposed preeclampsia by neighborhood income and between greenspace (500 m) and severe preeclampsia by PM10, overall and among those living in higher SES neighborhoods. Less greenspace, high particulate matter, and high-poverty/low-income neighborhoods were associated with preeclampsia, and effect modification was observed between these exposures. Further research into exposure combinations and preeclampsia is warranted.

Investing in Gentrification: The Eligibility of Gentrifying Neighborhoods for Federal Place-Based Economic Investment in U.S. Cities

2021 ◽  
pp. 107808742110326
Author(s):  
Noli Brazil ◽  
Amanda Portier
Keyword(s):  
Community Development ◽  
Financial Institutions ◽  
Affordable Housing ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Business Development ◽  
Tax Credits ◽  
New Markets ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Economic Improvement

Place-based policies commonly target disadvantaged neighborhoods for economic improvement, typically in the form of job opportunities, business development or affordable housing. To ensure that investment is channeled to truly distressed areas, place-based programs narrow the pool of eligible neighborhoods based on a set of socioeconomic criteria. The criteria, however, may not be targeting the places most in need. In this study, we examine the relationship between neighborhood gentrification status and 2018 eligibility for the New Markets Tax Credits, Opportunity Zones, Low Income Housing Tax Credits, and the Community Development Financial Institutions Program. We find that large percentages of gentrifying neighborhoods are eligible for each of the four programs, with many neighborhoods eligible for multiple programs. The Opportunity Zone program stands out, with the probability of eligibility nearly twice as high for gentrifying tracts than not-gentrifying tracts. We also found that the probability of eligibility increases with a greater percentage of adjacent neighborhoods experiencing gentrification.

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