ABSTRACT
The repeal of the federal entitlement to public assistance for women and children focuses attention on alternative antipoverty measures. One such program is the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), which spends more federal dollars than Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) and provides benefits to nearly three times as many households. 1 Both liberals and conservatives view the EITC as a political success: in 1990 and 1993, when large budgetary deficits discouraged any increases in social spending and public assistance was under siege, Congress significantly expanded the EITC, virtually without debate.
