Or better yet... blame me! I was born a tax burden, and you can't even claim me as a deductible!
I was born to an unwed mother... a widowed, immigrant mother of two to be exact. Even if it comes twenty-something years late, we, along with hundreds of thousands of families like us, should have apologized for creating unnecessary burdens on the rest of society.
(crossposted at YP4)
Now I should continue to say that even though we had some really tough economic beginnings (some of which my mom still doesn't like to talk about today), I am quite blessed and privileged that my mother later met a man she loved and married, starting a new family and life with us. Since I was three, I've always known and loved him as dad... and yes, we moved from that small roomed apartment to small house that would later become home. Straight outta 80s sitcom, right?
But it wasn't as though all of our economic concerns were resolved. It was, after all, the era of Reaganomics... But I digress, and I'm giving away precious parts of my autobiographical memoirs, so back to the tax tip of the day:
GET MARRIED !!! (especially if you're poor)
Single Parent families cost U.S. taxpayers $112 Billion... at least according to an interesting study sponsored by four groups the Institute for American Values, the Institute for Marriage and Public Policy, Families Northwest, and the Georgia Family Council. The groups are associated with the conservative marriage movement; however, the focus on these families is how much their poverty burdens all other "average" taxpayers (they had to exclude the fact single parents are taxpayers, too, you know).
How is it figured at $112 billion a year?
"It includes estimates from foregone tax revenues in income taxes, FICA taxes, and state and local taxes, plus taxpayer costs on the justice system, as well as relevant costs for means tested government programs such as Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) cash assistance, Food Stamps, Housing Assistance, Medicaid, State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), Child Welfare Programs, Women, Infants and Children (WIC) assistance, Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), Head Start, and School Lunch and Breakfast Programs."
And what is their solution?
"Marriage can help to reduce poverty because there are two potential wage earners in the home, because of economics of scale in the household, and possibly also because of changes in habits, values, and mores that occur when they get married."
I'm currently in the "unwed" column, but from what I hear from all the folks who have jumped the broom, tied the knot, exchanged vows, taken the plunge, walked down the aisle, etc. (not that I'm scared to use the "M"word or anything...)--changes in habits and values did not just come with marriage itself. And while the household economics changed somewhat, there were new challenges that came with it.
I'll be sure to say on the forefront that I'm not anti-marriage. If anything, it should recognized, valued, and respected for any couple in love and ready to make that commitment. Sound like something these groups would support, right? Oh wait...
Needless to say, there would be some direct implications about a specific state- sponsored marriage policy that would extend far beyond just the economics.
What gets to me (besides the fact they wait to give the press release on April 15th, fanning the already flamed taxpayers with a potential scapegoat and fodder for the economic demagogue-punditry) is that the study considers the $112 B price tag to come from "increased taxpayer expenditures for antipoverty, criminal justice, and education programs."
But even with that in consideration, "safety net programs" only account for 9% (just enough to match the percentage of the budget reserved to pay just the interest on the national debt per year) of the federal budget according to a 2007 report by the Center For Budget and Policy Priorities. Include Medicare/Medicaid and the infamous SCHIP program, and that still accounts for 19% of the budget. The study even goes on to report:
<span style="font-size: x-small; font-family: Arial">Census data show that all together these programs lifted 12.6 million
Americans out of poverty in 2005, the most recent year for which data are available, and reduced the depth of poverty for another 20.4 million people.</span>
That said, however, I tend to agree that there needs to be a pivot beyond New Deal/Great Society programs to fuller dialogue on bold, new initiatives to address economic justice, criminal justice, and education rights. All types of families are struggling in the current economy and without new policies addressing these concerns, it will exacerbate the very real burdens impacting and experienced by real people. I'd advocate that we need stronger economic policies that address the broader challenges and needs of young adults and young families. Fortunately, organizations such as Demos recognize this and will in fact be hosting A Better Deal Conference this May to address the current economic challenges, opportunities, and policies for this generation.
All families deserve a better deal when it comes to economic opportunity. It's not just about family values; it's about valuing all families... even the ones like I was born into.
Just sayin...
So my question to you is...