We describe the enormous changes in social and tax policy in recent years that have encouraged work by single mothers. We document the magnitude and timing of changes in federal and state income taxes, AFDC and Food Stamp benefits, Medicaid, and child care programs. We also describe how these...

We examine the distributional consequences of the Unemployment Insurance (UI) payroll tax. Applying the ability–to–pay principle of equity, the UI payroll tax is quite regressive, while applying the benefits principle makes the UI program look quite good. We then simulate a revenue–neutral...