The Fiscalization of Social Policy

How Taxpayers Trumped Children in the Fight Against Child Poverty

Joshua T. McCabe

First and only comparative analysis of the politics of the child tax credit
Argues that the exceptionally high child poverty rate in the US stems from the introduction of non-refundable child tax credit that excludes the poorest families
Finds the proliferation of the use of tax credits for social policy purposes is not just an American phenomenon

The Fiscalization of Social Policy

How Taxpayers Trumped Children in the Fight Against Child Poverty

Joshua T. McCabe

Description

In 1970, a single mother with two children working full-time at the federal minimum wage in the US received no direct cash benefits from the federal government. Today, after a period of austerity, that same mother would receive $7,572 in federal cash benefits. This money does not come from social assistance, family allowances, or other programs we traditionally see as part of the welfare state. Instead, she benefits from the earned income tax credit (EITC) and the child tax credit (CTC)-tax credits for low-income families that have become a major component of American social policy.

In The Fiscalization of Social Policy, Joshua McCabe challenges conventional wisdom on American exceptionalism, offering the first and only comparative analysis of the politics of tax credits. Drawing comparisons between similar developments in the UK and Canada, McCabe upends much of what we know about tax credits for low-income families. Rather than attributing these changes to anti-welfare attitudes, mobilization of conservative forces, shifts toward workfare, or racial antagonism, he argues that the growing use of tax credits for social policy was a strategic adaptation to austerity. While all three countries employ the same set of tax credits, child US poverty rates remain highest, as their tax credits paradoxically exclude the poorest families.

A critical examination of social policy over the last fifty years, The Fiscalization of Social Policy shows why the US government hasn't tackled poverty, even while it implements greater tax benefits for the poor.

The Fiscalization of Social Policy

How Taxpayers Trumped Children in the Fight Against Child Poverty

Joshua T. McCabe

The Fiscalization of Social Policy

How Taxpayers Trumped Children in the Fight Against Child Poverty

Joshua T. McCabe

Author Information

Joshua T. McCabe is Assistant Dean of Social Sciences and Assistant Professor of Sociology at Endicott College. He was previously the associate director at Wellesley College's Freedom Project. His research interests include economic sociology and political sociology with a focus on the comparative politics of taxation and social policy. He is especially motivated by puzzles of American exceptionalism and their practical implications for public policy.

The Fiscalization of Social Policy

How Taxpayers Trumped Children in the Fight Against Child Poverty

Joshua T. McCabe

Reviews and Awards

"In sum, comparative welfare state scholars would be wise to pick up a copy of The Fiscalization of Social Policy. McCabe blends a rare mix of thorough historical analysis with sharp insights on how historical events constraint contemporary policymaking decisions. The book is thus not only relevant for researchers of the U.S., UK, or Canada, but for any policy or poverty scholar who wants to think more critically about how past actionâs shape todayâs political choices." -- Zachary Parolin, Columbia University, Social Forces

"In this insightful book, Joshua McCabe shows what conservatives have known for decades-that Republicans since Reagan have been advocating for tax relief in response to real pressures on American families. In mapping out the past, he offers a blueprint for pro-family conservatives to address the economic security of working families in the 21st century." - Senator Marco Rubio

"Joshua McCabe takes our understanding of poverty a big step forward by examining tax credits in comparative perspective. McCabe argues that liberal policymakers in the 1940s doomed the development of American poverty policy. Whether readers agree or disagree, they will benefit from McCabe's deep knowledge of the political history of three countries, and from his extensive immersion in the scholarship on taxation and the welfare state. This is an exemplary piece of comparative historical scholarship." - Monica Prasad, Northwestern University

"Tax expenditures have emerged as one of the most important and growing aspects of social policy across the rich democracies. Partly because tax expenditures are 'submerged' and 'hidden' in government budgets, both the politics underlying them and the consequences for poverty demand serious investigation. The Fiscalization of Social Policy provides a fresh, insightful, and desperately needed account of the politics of tax expenditures. This book is essential to understanding social policy in this era of austerity." - David Brady, Professor of Public Policy, University of California - Riverside

"In this book, McCabe presents a very fine defense of his theory explaining the increasing fiscalization of US sociall policy since the 1970s. By this he means primarily the use of tax credits as revenues not collected to support children and their families. Comparing Canada and the UK, McCabe traces this trend back to decisions rendered in the postwar era, largely as attempts to obfuscate their real cost in budgetary environments otherwise hostile to new spending... Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals." --CHOICE

"McCabe has provided an intriguing theory about why America's safety net looks the way it does - and why two closely related countries do things so differently. His book deserves a careful read by those concerned about family-oriented public policy." --National Review