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The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit

Author

Listed:
  • Dahl, Gordon B.

    (University of California, San Diego)

  • Lochner, Lance John
Abstract
Past estimates of the effect of family income on child development have often been plagued by endogeneity and measurement error. In this paper, we use an instrumental variables strategy to estimate the causal effect of income on children's math and reading achievement. Our identification derives from the large, non-linear changes in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) over the last two decades. The largest of these changes increased family income by as much as 20%, or approximately $2,100, between 1993 and 1997. Using a panel of roughly 4,500 children matched to their mothers from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth datasets allows us to address problems associated with unobserved heterogeneity, endogenous transitory income shocks, and measurement error in income. Our baseline estimates imply that a $1,000 increase in income raises combined math and reading test scores by 6% of a standard deviation in the short-run. Test gains are larger for children from disadvantaged families and are robust to a variety of alternative specifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Dahl, Gordon B. & Lochner, Lance John, 2012. "The Impact of Family Income on Child Achievement: Evidence from the Earned Income Tax Credit," IZA Discussion Papers 6613, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp6613
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    poverty; educational achievement; family income;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I2 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Education
    • I3 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

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