State Choices to Promote Effective Parenting
Low-income young children with a parent employed full-time, 20081
- Provide option to extend Medicaid coverage for family planning to otherwise ineligible low-income women [2010]2
- Exempt single parents on TANF from work requirements until the youngest child reaches age 1. [2008]3
Parent must return to work when child is 3 months - Reduce the TANF work requirement to 20 hours or less for single parents with children under age 6 [2008]3
Case-by-case basis - Operate a statewide home visiting program. [2007]4
State Choices to Promote Family Economic Security
Education levels of mothers with young children, 20081
Maximum annual TANF benefit for a family of 3, 20083
- Establish a state minimum wage that exceeds the federal minimum wage ($7.25/hr). [2010]5
$7.25 - Exempt single-parent families of three below the poverty level from personal income tax. [2009]6
Up to 107% FPL - Offer a refundable state Earned Income Tax Credit. [2008]7
6% of the federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) - Offer a refundable state dependent care tax credit. [2007]8
- Keep copayments for child care subsidies below 10% of family income for most families. [2008]9
- Allow families on TANF to receive some or all of their child support payment without reducing TANF cash assistance. [2009]10
- Offer exemptions and/or extensions of the TANF benefit time limit for women who are pregnant or caring for a child under age 6. [2008]11
Data Notes and Sources
Last Updated: August 18, 2010
- State data were calculated from the Annual Social and Economic Supplement (the March supplement) of the Current Population Survey from 2007, 2008, and 2009, representing information from calendar years 2006, 2007, and 2008. NCCP averaged three years of data because of small sample sizes in less populated states. The national data were calculated from the 2009 data, representing information from the previous calendar year.
- Guttmacher Institute. 2010. State Policies in Brief: State Medicaid Family Planning Eligibility Expansions, as of August 13, 2010. New York, NY: Guttmacher Institute. http://www.guttmacher.org
- Rowe, Gretchen; Murphy, Mary. 2009. The Welfare Rules Databook: State Policies as of July 2008. The Urban Institute. http://anfdata.urban.org (accessed November 10, 2009).
- Johnson, Kay. 2007. State-based Home Visiting: Strengthening Programs through State Leadership. New York, NY: National Center for Children in Poverty, Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health.
- U.S. Department of Labor, Employment Standards Administration. 2010. Minimum Wage Laws in the States, July 2010. http://www.dol.gov (accessed August 16, 2010).
- Oliff, Phil; Singham, Ashali. 2010. The Impact of State Income Taxes on Low-Income Families in 2009. Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. http://www.cbpp.org (accessed August 13, 2010).
- State EITC Programs, TaxCreditResources.org. Community Resources Information, Inc. website. Accessed March 25, 2009 from www.TaxCreditResources.org.
- National Women's Law Center. 2007. State Child and Dependent Care Tax Provisions, Tax Year 2007. Washington, DC: National Women's Law Center. http://www.nwlc.org
- U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families. 2008. Report of State and Territory Plans, FY 2008—2009. http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov (Accessed February 24, 2009)
- Vinson, Michelle; Turetsky, Vicky. 2009. State Child Support Pass-Through Policies. Center for Law and Social Policy. http://www.clasp.org (accessed November 10, 2009)
- States can specify the conditions under which pregnant women and parents with young children can receive exemptions (time that does not count toward the benefit time limit) or extensions (additional months of assistance) of the TANF benefit time limit.
Rowe, Gretchen; Murphy, Mary. 2009. The Welfare Rules Databook: State Policies as of July 2008. Tables IV.C.3 and IV.C.4. The Urban Institute. http://anfdata.urban.org (accessed February 28, 2010).
