Workers without access to paid leave are more likely to be uninsured and have difficulty paying for an emergency expense or basic needs, such as food, housing, and health care. 3/3
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Jack Smalligan
@JSmalligan
Senior Policy Fellow at the Urban Institute. Analyze disability, retirement and paid leave policy. Served 27 years in the Office of Management and Budget.
Joined November 2017
Jack Smalligan’s Tweets
Hispanic/Latinx and Black workers are less likely to have access to paid leave than white workers and access to paid leave for the birth or adoption of a new child is limited and poorly targeted, with women ages 18 to 34 reporting the lowest rates of access. 2/3
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This new Urban Institute brief from , Michael Karpman and I examine patterns in access to paid family and medical leave. We find significant disparities in access and greater levels of material hardship among workers without paid leave. 1/3
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Raising the Supplemental Security Income earned income disregards would help individuals near or below poverty and encourage greater labor force participation. See press coverage on and my paper.
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.@JSmalligan Any changes to the income rules would be targeted to people who are trying to work & are very poor. "That just kind of feels like a win-win for both the economy & for the individual." (via @LorieKonish) urbn.is/3DUWsYv
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New paper from me and a couple of my colleagues on the Disability Insurance program and food insecurity. | The Geography of Disability and Food Insecurity | urban.org/research/publi #EconTwitter
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and I have a new paper out on SSI work rules. We look at how the program's current disincentives to work kick in well before a beneficiary’s income reaches the poverty line. Updating the earned income disregard is one way to address this.
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A record 8.8 million workers missed work in Jan because they or their family members were isolating due to COVID. Many more, when faced with missed paychecks or job losses, went to work sick.
We need policymakers to reinstate & expand COVID #PaidLeave.
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A clear, concise case for why continuing the expanded CTC will help us manage the COVID pandemic.
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From @KevinWerner127: The COVID-19 pandemic underscored the child tax credit’s power to alleviate family poverty urbn.is/3H7tSnD
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If Democrats produce a tax law that raises the SALT cap and leaves the child tax credit at 2020 levels.... hmm.
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The disincentive to work at even very low levels undermines the idea that SSI is about providing “supplemental” security income. The SSI program should support those who can make modest earnings that could lift total income above the federal poverty level.
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Almost a third of SSI/SSDI concurrent beneficiaries reported interest in working, a higher rate than SSDI-only beneficiaries. Yet the sequencing of the work rules means they must overcome the work disincentives in SSI before they can access the SSDI work incentives.
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In addition to economic benefits, evidence shows that work has health benefits. Many SSI beneficiaries unable to do full time work may still be able to work part time, including many of the 1.3 million dually enrolled SSI/SSDI beneficiaries. gov.uk/government/pub.
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Analysis by shows that increasing the earned & unearned income disregards would dramatically reduce poverty, along with other proposed changes. Increasing the earned income disregard to fully reflect inflation would cost about $11 billion/ten yrs. urban.org/sites/default/
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Since the 2021 federal SSI maximum benefit is $794, this means that after excluding $65 from work and $20 in general income, SSI beneficiaries start to see their benefit reduced for additional earnings before their income has even reached the poverty line - $1,073/mo in 2021.
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The amount an SSI beneficiary can earn before their benefit is reduced is stuck at $65 per month—the same as in 1972. If it were fully indexed for inflation, this amount would be $416. Once a beneficiary’s earnings exceed the threshold benefits are reduced at a 50% rate.
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SSI improves the lives of millions of people a year and dramatically reduces the number of people in poverty. However, SSI’s work rules are seriously outdated.
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The Supplemental Security Income program (SSI) is a vital part of the national safety net. The Build Back Better legislation presents an opportunity to make it an even stronger program by updating its work rules. cbpp.org/blog/theres-st. Thread.
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Here is the rackup so far, with the Treasury OTA estimate on tax enforcement that Dems have said they are using. ($480 billion of revenue, $400 billion net)
Deficit ⬇️ by $113 billion over 10 years.
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A great analysis of the many ways the SSI program needs to be updated to better serve low-income elderly and people with disabilities.
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It's time--long past time, actually--for policymakers to expand and simplify Supplemental Security Income (SSI) for low-income elderly and disabled people.
Here's why: cbpp.org/research/socia 1/
#DemolishDisabledPovertyShow this thread
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It's official, I'm running for governor of Maryland. Take a look at my announcement video: youtu.be/kF5T31Gm4nI
#MDpolitics #MDgov
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The Boston Pre-K study reported today is inspiring in its rigor and its result.
Less inspiring: The US has made no progress enrolling kids in Pre-K since 2000.
Full-day PK is up, which is good, but total enrollment is flat, which is not. 1/4
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A very timely paper.
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It's for a #paidleave program that:
Covers new parents
Covers v. sick workers
Covers family caregiving
Meet families' $ needs
Includes all workers
Is easy to access
Prioritizes workers of color, w/disabilities & w/low pay
More here: cbpp.org/research/econo
for a #paidleave program that:
Covers new parents
Covers v. sick workers
Covers family caregiving
Meet families' $ needs
Includes all workers
Is easy to access
Prioritizes workers of color, w/disabilities & w/low pay
More here: cbpp.org/research/econo2
. & : "The American Families Plan suggests that enacting a federal paid leave program that dramatically expands access while reducing disparities across wage levels & occupations can be achieved at a reasonable price tag."
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Considering these policies in combination, the Congress could enact a new self-financed paid leave program – and fill a serious gap in our social insurance protections -- without increasing overall average taxes for workers earning less than $400,000 a year. 6/7
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The key policies to consider are expanding and making fully refundable the Child Tax Credit, expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit for workers without children and an expanded child and dependent care tax credit. Other changes might be needed too. 5/7
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Our new brief explains that the package of Administration tax policies, as well as additional policies Congress is considering, would significantly reduce taxes for families with low and moderate incomes – substantially more than a paid leave payroll tax. 4/7
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Most paid leave proposals, such as the FAMILY Act, finance the new benefit with a modest payroll tax. Some experts have assumed the Biden administration cannot support a payroll tax–financed paid leave program without raising taxes on workers earning less than $400,000. 3/7
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The COVID pandemic has highlighted the need for a comprehensive national paid leave benefit. Congress and the Administration are now making key decisions on the policies to include in the budget resolution that will guide the second reconciliation package. 2/7
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The Administration and many in Congress are working to include paid leave in a second reconciliation package. As and I explain in a new brief, the Biden tax pledge doesn’t have to rule out use of a modest payroll tax to make the program self-financing. Thread 1/7
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THREAD: There is some new momentum behind the effort to reverse a decade of IRS budget cuts and invest in tax enforcement to close the “tax gap” – the approximately $600 billion in taxes that are owed but not paid every year. 1/
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New working paper from BLS/Census on what's driving the free-fall in earnings + employment for workers with low wages: bls.gov/osmr/research-
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and I present the detailed case for including Federal grants to states for return to work services as part of a paid family and medical leave program here: urban.org/research/publi 4/4
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Older workers, women, and workers of color are especially vulnerable. Workers who struggle to recover and return to work need special services, as and I discuss in this short piece: urban.org/urban-wire/str 3/4
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COVID-19 is revealing what experts have known -- workers facing seemingly identical illnesses can experience very different health outcomes, leading some to quickly recover and return to work, while others require longer leaves and additional assistance to get back to work. 2/4
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Regarding a national family and child-care policy, there was an exciting interview over the weekend in which Secretary Yellen said: “It’s certainly something that President Biden is interested in.” Now we need to focus on the program’s design. 1/4
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An exciting development. Congratulations!
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I’ve not done one of these for a while! After ~10 years @CenteronBudget with some of the best colleagues in the world, I’ve started @NYULaw as executive director of a new initiative founded w/ the incredible @LilyBatch: The Tax Law Center @NYULaw.
twitter.com/nyulaw/status/
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So true.
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THREAD ON BOB GREENSTEIN: 1/Yesterday was @GreensteinCBPP last day heading @CenterOnBudget after 40 years. There may not be anyone in Washington who has done more, year-by-year, over these decades to champion Medicaid, SNAP, EITC and to fight for those battling poverty.
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Yes! This is not a progressive or Democratic only issue. This is common sense, life and death, good-for-health, good-for-the-economy. #paidsickdays #paidleave #ReliefCantWait
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An extension of FFCRA would help to limit the virus spread and provide businesses and families with more options. @adriennesully and @McCloskeyAbby explain why paid leave as part of the COVID-19 relief package is important now more than ever: bpcdc.org/2VWgXyB
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