In-work benefits across Europe

In-work benefits, often in the form of earned income tax credits (EITCs), have become increasingly popular over the last decades. Early versions of in-work benefits in the US, the UK and Ireland, primarily motivated as a poverty alleviation measure, have been followed by a large expansion of in-work benefits in other European countries, stressing employment goals rather than redistributive concerns. This review describes the in-work benefit schemes in a selection of countries across Europe and summarizes the evidence of these schemes. The selected countries are France, the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Denmark, Finland and Sweden.