2007 Reports

The Impact of Work Supports: A Snapshot from Detroit

Dinan, Kinsey Alden

Two-thirds of children living in low-income families in Detroit have parents who work. The majority of these children—about 70,000—have parents who work full-time, year-round. In Detroit, as elsewhere in Michigan and throughout the United States, a full-time job at low wages is not enough to make ends meet. Work supports—such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and child care subsidies—can help. But as this snapshot shows, families often lose eligibility before they are economically self-sufficient. In some cases, just a small increase in earnings can trigger a substantial loss in benefits, leaving the family worse off than it was before.