TY - JOUR
T1 - Dignity and Dreams
T2 - What the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Means to Low-Income Families
AU - Sykes, Jennifer
AU - Križ, Katrin
AU - Edin, Kathryn
AU - Halpern-Meekin, Sarah
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© American Sociological Association 2014
PY - 2015/4/27
Y1 - 2015/4/27
N2 - Money has meaning that shapes its uses and social significance, including the monies low-income families draw on for survival: wages, welfare, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This study, based on in-depth interviews with 115 low-wage EITC recipients, reveals the EITC is an unusual type of government transfer. Recipients of the EITC say they value the debt relief this government benefit brings. However, they also perceive it as a just reward for work, which legitimizes a temporary increase in consumption. Furthermore, unlike other means-tested government transfers, the credit is seen as a springboard for upward mobility. Thus, by conferring dignity and spurring dreams, the EITC enhances feelings of citizenship and social inclusion.
AB - Money has meaning that shapes its uses and social significance, including the monies low-income families draw on for survival: wages, welfare, and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). This study, based on in-depth interviews with 115 low-wage EITC recipients, reveals the EITC is an unusual type of government transfer. Recipients of the EITC say they value the debt relief this government benefit brings. However, they also perceive it as a just reward for work, which legitimizes a temporary increase in consumption. Furthermore, unlike other means-tested government transfers, the credit is seen as a springboard for upward mobility. Thus, by conferring dignity and spurring dreams, the EITC enhances feelings of citizenship and social inclusion.
KW - Earned Income Tax Credit
KW - economic sociology
KW - poverty
KW - working poor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84925619830&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84925619830&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/0003122414551552
DO - 10.1177/0003122414551552
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:84925619830
SN - 0003-1224
VL - 80
SP - 243
EP - 267
JO - American Sociological Review
JF - American Sociological Review
IS - 2
ER -