Skip to main content
skip

Search form


  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate program
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Social media
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
    • Alumni
    • Alumni events
    • Stay connected
    • Staebler Award
    • Alumni Board
Ford School Home PageThe Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan
  • Request a room
  • People
  • Intranet

Search form

  • About
    • About
    • Why the Ford School?
    • Legacy of Gerald Ford
    • Diversity commitment
    • Engagement
    • Global Ford School
    • Ford School Committee
    • Jobs
    • Contact us
    • Ford School Centennial
  • Academics
    • Academics
    • Course listing
    • Master's programs
    • Undergraduate programs
    • Doctoral program
    • Academic resources
    • STPP Grad Certificate
    • PPIA program
  • Admissions
    • Admissions
    • Tuition and residency
    • Planning your visit
    • Request more information
  • Careers & internships
    • Careers & internships
    • Undergraduates
    • Graduate students
    • Why hire from the Ford School?
    • Policy Grads at work
  • Research & Action
    • Research
    • Faculty experts
    • Visiting policymakers
    • Research centers
    • Faculty publications
    • Research publications
  • Student life
    • Student life
    • Student organizations
    • Housing
    • Ann Arbor
  • News & events
    • News & events
    • News
    • Events
    • Publications
    • Video
    • Connect with us
    • Weiser Diplomacy Launch Series
  • Giving
    • Giving
    • Why give
    • Where to give
    • How to give
  1. Home
  2. News
  3. Luke Shaefer proposal for Universal Child Allowance influences Senate tax proposal

News


  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media
  • Upcoming Events
  • Past Events
  • News
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Social media

Luke Shaefer proposal for Universal Child Allowance influences Senate tax proposal

Thursday, November 9, 2017

On June 21, a proposal by Christopher Wimer (Columbia University), Jane Waldfogel (Columbia University), and the Ford School’s Luke Shaefer – “A Universal Child Allowance to Combat Child Poverty” – was published in Spotlight On Poverty, a non-partisan initiative focused on poverty policy debates.

In their proposal, the social scientists recommend converting the Child Tax Credit (CTC) into a universal monthly child allowance, providing support to all families with young children. They provide three potential models: monthly payments of $250 per child regardless of age; monthly payments of $300 per child under age 6 and $250 per child ages 6-17; or monthly payments of $300 for the first child under age 6 and $250 for the first child age 6-17, with a reduction in the amount per child for each subsequent child in the household.

As they note, every other wealthy democracy in the world has such a program – and the U.S. could greatly reduce childhood poverty by adopting such a policy and virtually eliminate extreme poverty for children in households with less than $2 a day in income.

On October 26, two Democratic U.S. Senators – Colorado’s Michael Bennett and Ohio’s Sherrod Brown – unveiled legislation that would more or less convert the CTC into a monthly payment program and greatly raise the value of the credit, allowing low and middle-income families to receive more benefits. As noted in both Slate and Vox articles examining the proposed American Family Act of 2017, families would get $300 a month for each young child (ages 0-5) and $250 for older children (ages 6-18).

While not a universal program, both authors for Slate and Vox note that the Bennett and Brown CTC proposal bears some striking resemblance to the one proposed by Wimer, Waldfogel, and Shaefer, and that it appears to rely heavily on their and other poverty research. And more importantly, it would achieve some of the researchers’ goals to remedy some of the negative effects of recent welfare reforms.

“I’ve really grown to think that simple and near universal is better,” Michigan’s Shaefer told Jordan Weissmann of Slate. “I think [Bennet and Brown’s bill] lives up to what we need as a cash safety net, a base level that families can’t fall behind, while providing a tax cut to middle class families all in one fell swoop.”

For more, read:

  • “A Universal Child Allowance to Combat Child Poverty,” by Christopher Wimer, Jane Waldfogel, and Luke Shaefer for Spotlight On Poverty (Jun. 21)
  • “Democrats Have a Bill That Would Halve the Child Poverty Rate. It Likely Costs Less Than Trump’s Tax Cut,” by Jordan Weissmann for Slate (Oct. 26)
  • “Senate Democrats have a plan that would cut child poverty nearly in half,” by Dylan Matthews for Vox (Oct. 26)

--By Jackson Voss (MPP '18)

Share This
Tags: 
Domestic policy, Economics and finance, Politics, Poverty and social policy, universal child allowance, Luke Shaefer, childhood poverty, child tax credit, U.S. Senate, domestic poverty, welfare reform, $2 a Day, by Jackson Voss, Christopher Wimer, Jane Waldfogel, Luke Shaefer, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan

Related News

View All
Nov 22, 2019
Luke Shaefer named special counselor to the director of the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services
H. Luke Shaefer , director of Poverty Solutions at the... more
Sep 03, 2019
Transformational research leading to evidence-based policymaking: fall 2019 faculty news
With so many wonderful faculty returning, and several new... more

Related events

View All
Mar
16
Continuing Challenges to Suffrage in Michigan in 2020: Who Still Can’t Vote?
This panel will address the long struggle for women’s right... more
Dec
11
Strategic Public Policy Consulting Student Presentations and Reception
Join Ford School students for their final Strategic Public... more

Related Past Events

View All
Feb
21
Climate Change in the Great Lakes Basin: Policy Options and Public Opinion
Free and open to the public. Panelists: Christopher Borick... more
2011 - 
  • 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm
Oct
14
$2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in America
Authors Kathy Edin and Luke Shaefer discuss the majorn... more
2015 - 
  • 4:00 pm

RESOURCES FOR:

  • Prospective Students
  • Current Students
  • Faculty/Staff
  • Employers
  • Policymakers & Press
  • Alumni
UMFS Ford School Link

Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy

University of Michigan

735 South State Street | Ann Arbor, MI 48109

P: 734-764-3490 | F: 734-763-9181

Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
Flickr
Youtube
Mission & Values
How to Give
**APPAM** **APSIA** **NASPAA** **PPIA**

About

  • About
  • Why the Ford School?
  • Legacy of Gerald Ford
  • Diversity commitment
  • Engagement
  • Global Ford School
  • Ford School Committee
  • Jobs
  • Contact us
  • Ford School Centennial

Academics

  • Academics
  • Course listing
  • Master's programs
  • Undergraduate programs
  • Doctoral program
  • Academic resources
  • STPP Grad Certificate
  • PPIA program

Admissions

  • Admissions
  • Tuition and residency
  • Planning your visit
  • Request more information

Careers & internships

  • Careers & internships
  • Undergraduates
  • Graduate students
  • Why hire from the Ford School?
  • Policy Grads at work

Student life

  • Student life
  • Student organizations
  • Housing
  • Ann Arbor

Research & Action

  • Research
  • Faculty experts
  • Visiting policymakers
  • Research centers
  • Faculty publications
  • Research publications

News & events

  • News & events
  • News
  • Events
  • Publications
  • Video
  • Connect with us
  • Weiser Diplomacy Launch Series

Giving

  • Giving
  • Why give
  • Where to give
  • How to give

Alumni

  • Alumni
  • Alumni events
  • Stay connected
  • Staebler Award
  • Alumni Board

Intranet

Ford School Home Page© The Regents of the University of Michigan | Non-discrimination policy | U-M | Webmaster | Sitemap | Contact