Proposed EITC Expansion Would Increase Eligibility and Dollars for Rural and Urban “Childless” Workers

This brief uses data from the 2013 Annual Social and Economic Supplement to the Current Population Survey to examine how President Obama’s proposed expanded eligibility and higher credit values might affect tax filers in both rural and urban America. Authors Jessica Carson and Marybeth Mattingly report that proposed changes to the earned income tax credit (EITC) will increase the share of workers without a qualifying child eligible for the EITC equally in rural and urban places, although rural residents are more likely to be eligible under both current and proposed policies. The average increase in the credit is $476, more than double the average current credit, and would be similar for married and single filers without qualifying children in both rural and urban places. The number of unmarried filers who would become eligible for the credit is significantly higher than the number of married filers, in both urban and rural places