Reading Task #3

According to Alan Booth and Ann C. Crouter in their book “Just Living Together”, 2002, “welfare and tax policies influence a range of decisions about family, including decisions to marry, have children, or cohabit” (Booth and Crouter, 2002, p.191). The authors state that “there is evidence which the structure of many U.S. families is changing in dramatic ways” (Booth and Crouter, 2002, p.194). Booth and Crouter then report that the conventional wisdom keeps that welfare benefits are providing a disincentive to marry. They indicate that “ The 1996 welfare reform law requires states to use Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) to serve needy children and their families, but the law does not define family” (Booth and Crouter, 2002, p.196). The authors then explain that under the TANF rules, cohabiting parents are treated in much the same way as married parents in all the states. For taxes, Booth and Crouter note that “the eligibility rules for the earned income tax credit (ELTC) can treat unmarried cohabiting workers more generously than married couples, who must file jointly and count income together” (Booth and Crouter, 2002, p.201). They also calculate the combined financial effect of TANF, food stamps, child support, and the federal tax in order to indicate the families fare under low-income programs.