The Coalition for a Working Parents Tax Cut
Last week, we announced the formation of the Coalition for a Working Parents Tax Cut. The coalition consists of more than 80 groups and individuals, representing a broad cross-section of sectors, ideologies, and geographies, committed to the goal of providing more support to working parents with young children. The coalition sent a letter to the […]
How to support ALICE households at scale
In my last post, I explored the data in the latest ALICE report which showed that the share of Michigan households that did not earn enough to pay for basic necessities increased sharply between 2021 and 2022. The core reason for the increase is that the pandemic-induced social safety net erected in 2020 and 2021 […]
Economy improves, ALICE rate goes up
The Michigan Association of United Ways recently released a 2024 update to their 2023 ALICE report. ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and the ALICE rate captures the share of Michigan households with incomes below the “ALICE threshold,” the estimated income a household needs to pay for basic expenses like housing, childcare, food, […]
The transformational impact of a working parents tax cut
We have been arguing that our proposal for a working parents tax cut would be transformational for hardworking Michigan parents with young children. Our proposed credit would direct $5,000 to EITC-eligible Michigan parents for each child they have under the age of 3, and $2,500 for each child between the ages of 3 and 6. […]
Michigan is missing talent-magnet neighborhoods
Last year, we released a proposal for the Neighborhood Talent Concentration Initiative (NTCI). The proposal was built on what we see as the new calculus of economic development: that talent attracts capital, and quality of place attracts talent. If you want a thriving state economy, you need to create the kinds of places that attract […]
Michiganders agree: working parents need a tax cut
Last fall, we released our proposal for a Working Parents Tax Credit (WPTC) here in Michigan – a large, refundable tax credit directed to working parents with young children, to help defray the high cost of childcare and combat the so-called “benefit cliff.” Our proposal would send non-affluent working parents $5,000 for each child under […]
A model for Michigan cities in Columbus
For years, we have been arguing that the economic development imperative in Michigan is to create places in our state that can retain and attract young talent. Because today’s young, highly-educated talent are concentrating in dense, walkable, amenity-rich neighborhoods within central cities, this means that to hold onto and attract more young talent, we need […]
Supporting working families with income instead of programs
Last fall, we released our proposal for a Working Parents Tax Credit (WPTC) here in Michigan. As the name suggests, this new refundable tax credit would be targeted to working parents with young children, sending $5,000 to EITC-eligible households for each child under three years old, and $2,500 for each child between the ages of […]
Reviewing the evidence on short-term credentials
In the postsecondary education landscape, short-term credentials hold a certain allure. In conversations around education and the future of work, certificates and credentials are often viewed as the way forward. To succeed in the future economy, the argument goes, some postsecondary education is needed, and it need not be a four-year degree. This argument holds […]
Mapping and addressing the “benefit cliff” in Michigan
This post summarizes a short report we wrote on the benefit cliff in Michigan, which can be found here: Mapping and Addressing Benefit Cliffs in Michigan In early 2023, Senator Kristen McDonald-Rivet established a working group to explore the so-called “benefit cliff,” and its impact on Michigan families. Most public benefits (SNAP benefits, housing assistance, cash […]