Date of Completion
2018
Document Type
Honors College Thesis
Department
Economics
Thesis Type
Honors College, College of Arts and Science Honors
First Advisor
Arthur Woolf
Keywords
Benefits cliff, childcare access, Vermont
Abstract
This research focuses on Vermont’s childcare cliff, examining how credit levels of different programs are impacted by changes in income. Specifically, it focuses on the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and the Child Care Financial Assistance Program. It contains case studies that highlight how different life events – including increases in income and changes in marital status – impact the credit amounts that a family is receiving. This paper discusses the impacts of Vermont’s childcare cliff, specifically focusing on how the cliff creates high implicit and explicit marginal tax rates for those experiencing it. It concludes with policy recommendations the state of Vermont could utilize to mitigate the effects of the childcare cliff.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Rayson, Lauren Alexandra, "Understanding and Mitigating the Effects of the Childcare Cliff: A Case Study of Vermont" (2018). UVM Honors College Senior Theses. 253.
https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/hcoltheses/253