In this brief we consider the largest nonbusiness tax expenditures in the individual income tax. We provide a description of these provisions, estimates of their cost and the distribution of their tax benefits across income groups, and briefly summarize their effects. We consider tax...
There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This brief focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...
There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This report focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...
The share of households with student loans rose from 9 percent in 1989 to 19 percent by 2010, while inflation-adjusted median student debt rose by more than 50 percent. Rising debt burdens can affect numerous outcomes. For those in school, loans may affect completion rates, choice of major, and...
This report tracks the lifetime earnings of men born in the U.S. between 1940 and 1974, focusing on how earnings differences by educational attainment, age, and year of birth have evolved. Both annual and lifetime earnings inequality increased dramatically for men born in the mid-1950s onward....
In this testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Len Burman outlines some of the challenges facing the middle class in 2014 and explores policy options that might help better equip them to meet those challenges, including improving access to higher education and job training and...
The federal government channels much of its support for asset building through the tax code. Asset-building tax subsidies, primarily for homeownership and retirement saving, totaled $384 billion in 2013. This report reviews federal tax expenditures for housing, retirement, savings, business...
What are the Largest Nonbusiness Tax Expenditures?
In this brief we consider the largest nonbusiness tax expenditures in the individual income tax. We provide a description of these provisions, estimates of their cost and the distribution of their tax benefits across income groups, and briefly summarize their effects. We consider tax...
Simplifying Federal Student Aid: An Overview of Eight Plans
There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This brief focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...
Simplifying Federal Student Aid: How Do the Plans Stack Up?
There is widespread agreement that the college financial aid system is too complicated and acts as a barrier to higher education. This report focusses on how eight different simplification proposals for determining Pell grant eligibility and three alternatives for calculating Effective Family...
Student Loans Rising
The share of households with student loans rose from 9 percent in 1989 to 19 percent by 2010, while inflation-adjusted median student debt rose by more than 50 percent. Rising debt burdens can affect numerous outcomes. For those in school, loans may affect completion rates, choice of major, and...
Educational Attainment and Earnings Inequality among US-Born Men
This report tracks the lifetime earnings of men born in the U.S. between 1940 and 1974, focusing on how earnings differences by educational attainment, age, and year of birth have evolved. Both annual and lifetime earnings inequality increased dramatically for men born in the mid-1950s onward....
Policies to Support the Middle Class
In this testimony before the Senate Finance Committee, Len Burman outlines some of the challenges facing the middle class in 2014 and explores policy options that might help better equip them to meet those challenges, including improving access to higher education and job training and...
Tax Subsidies for Asset Development: An Overview and Distributional Analysis
The federal government channels much of its support for asset building through the tax code. Asset-building tax subsidies, primarily for homeownership and retirement saving, totaled $384 billion in 2013. This report reviews federal tax expenditures for housing, retirement, savings, business...