View Research by Author - Stephanie Rennane

Publications

This report provides a first-time analysis of how the allocation of public resources for children varies by family income. Examining federal expenditures for nearly 100 federal programs in 2009, the report finds that 70 percent of all federal spending on children served the 42 percent of children who are low-income -- living in families with incomes less than twice the federal poverty level. While low-income children received 84 percent of outlays on children, higher-income children received 82 percent of tax reductions benefiting children.

The Congress, the President, and various commissions have begun discussing real Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid reform. This paper suggests that as these discussions move forward, it would be helpful to examine lifetime contributions and benefits for Medicare and Social Security to understand the programs’ internal fiscal situations and their broader role in overall budget policy and, most importantly, as a way toward a more unified and coherent approach to entitlement reform for seniors. This approach also provides a useful window on how equitably lifetime benefits and taxes are distributed and on the fiscal stability of the overall system.

Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2010, a fifth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. This appendix details our data sources, the programs we include, and the methodology used to estimate the percentage of all expenditures that went to children.

Kids' Share 2011: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2010, a fifth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends over the past 50 years in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that the size and composition of expenditures on children have changed considerably, but children have not been a budget priority. Federal expenditures on children in 2010, were 11 percent of the federal budget, slightly higher than in 2009. This increase is temporary, however, with the children's share of the budget expected to shrink to less than 8 percent by the end of the next decade.

How much will you pay in Social Security and Medicare taxes over your lifetime? And how much can you expect to get back in benefits? It depends on whether you're married, when you retire, and how much you’ve earned over a lifetime. These tables provide estimates of the lifetime value of Social Security and Medicare benefits and taxes for typical workers in different generations at various earning levels.

The individual income tax contains multiple provisions that favor families with children. They range from credits targeted towards low-income families to deductions that favor higher income families. Some provisions benefit a family by virtue of the family having children, others try to incentivize behavior such as work and going to school. This paper describes the various child-related provisions and shows the distribution of who benefits from the provisions. Benefits can be substantial. For example, a single parent with two children could receive a tax subsidy worth almost $9,000. The rules governing the provisions are complex and ripe for reform.

This package of tables considers interactions between four different provisions of government support for health care that exist under the new Health Reform law (the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, or PPACA): Medicare, Medicaid, Insurance Subsidies offered through the Exchange, and Employer Sponsored Insurance (ESI). The summary table estimates the value of health benefits to families and singles at various income levels under the four options, and the charts show how these benefit levels change as income rises. Estimates for Medicare benefits are from CMS; estimates of Medicaid premiums are from the Health Policy Center. Backup tables work through the calculations for the value of the exchange subsidy and the tax subsidy for ESI.

It is often useful to compute contributions and benefits over a lifetime when studying policies for retirement and Social Security. However, these calculations are complicated by factors like economic growth and inflation, which change the relative value of investments over time. The fact that $1 in the bank today might accrue enough interest to be worth $1.03 next year leads economists, accountants, and actuaries to find ways to equate the two amounts at a point in time. This fact sheet explains how the discount rate affects present value calculations.

Kids' Share 2010: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2009, a fourth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. This appendix details our data sources, the programs we include, and the methodology used to estimate the percentage of all expenditures that went to children.

Kids' Share 2010: Report on Federal Expenditures on Children through 2009, a fourth annual report, looks comprehensively at trends in federal spending and tax expenditures on children. Key findings suggest that historically children have not been a budget priority. In 2009, this trend continued, as children's spending accounted for less than one-tenth of federal outlays. While the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provides a temporary boost, children's spending will continue to be squeezed in the next decade.

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