the earned income credit ranges from $1,502 to $6,728 depending on tax-filing status, income, and number of

children. The average amount of EITC received nationwide was about $2,411. In 2021, for example, a single

parent with two children would have received a tax credit of $5,980 up to a modest income level. The amount

of the tax break increases with the amount of income earned, up to a point. The earned income tax credit has

often been popular with both economists and the general public because of the way it effectively increases the

payment received for work.

What about the danger of the poverty trap that every additional $1 earned will reduce government support

payments by close to $1? To minimize this problem, the earned income tax credit is phased out slowly. For

example, according to the Tax Policy Center, for a single-parent family with two children in 2013, the credit is
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