Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/250136 
Year of Publication: 
2021
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 969
Publisher: 
Statistics Norway, Research Department, Oslo
Abstract: 
The American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 implies that the US is effectively moving towards a general child benefit. However, the amount paid out is dependent on income, similar to schemes in several other countries. In the present paper, we argue that instead of suppressing the labour supply of middle income parents through withdrawing the transfer as a function of income, one should consider the obvious alternative of financing a generous universal child benefit by changing the overall income tax system. Implications of means testing relative to a tax financed universal alternative are discussed analytically in a piece-wise linear schedule. Moreover, we provide empirical illustrations of effects of child benefit design by combining information from behavioral and non-behavioral microsimulation models, representing the universe of Norwegian households. Results from both the analytical discussion and the simulations question the case for letting the child benefit be means tested.
Subjects: 
Child benefit design
Labour supply
Income distribution
piecewise linear tax schedule
JEL: 
C25
J13
J22
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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