Roger Sherman: Idaho can center kids – and our future – through tax policy

By Roger Sherman

Can the way we design our tax system reduce child abuse and neglect?

The future of our state depends on the well-being of Idaho children. While there are many ways we invest in our children, all children do not have equal advantages. In Idaho, 1 in 5 children lives in poverty. This past legislative session, Idaho lawmakers approved $600 million in tax cuts. But Idaho’s wealthiest saw the largest benefits as a result, not kids in struggling families. During the next legislative session, Idaho’s lawmakers should consider strong family-centered tax and economic policies to support the state’s children.

Any kind of stress on caregivers and families can make abuse and neglect more likely, and financial stress is not different. But we can alleviate this by letting families keep more of what parents earn on the job and easing the struggles that come with financial insecurity. In fact, the first recommendation from national experts for preventing child abuse and neglect is to strengthen economic support for families.

An Idaho Working Families Credit – based on the federal Earned Income Tax Credit – would be a step in the right direction. If passed, working parents would be able to offset more of the taxes they pay, with families of modest incomes able to keep more of their earnings. This would return money to the pockets of families in Idaho with lower incomes. This increased family financial well-being could result in benefits for families and children as well as for local economies. Households of modest incomes are more likely to spend their tax credit dollars supporting local businesses, strengthening themselves and our local communities rather than supporting outside economies that have little impact on us.

Nor is this an unusual proposal even in states similar to Idaho – Utah, for instance, signed into law a tax package that creates an earned income tax credit for Utahns and their children. More than 30 other states already have this credit. Those states have seen improvements in the financial well-being of families of modest incomes.

Idaho’s policymakers need to consider an Idaho Working Families Tax Credit. This would benefit all Idaho’s children and, thus, our future.

States with this type of credit see better outcomes for children. Researchers have found the credit – sometimes as little as $1,000 – could result in fewer interactions with child protection services. Research also supports a link between the credit and lower rates of foster care entry.

I believe we all do better when we all do better. Targeting a Working Families Credit to the families who need it most will benefit all of us who live and work in Idaho.

Roger Sherman is the executive director of the Idaho Children’s Trust Fund, the state affiliate of Prevent Child Abuse America, based in Boise. The Trust Fund provides funding and training to organizations around the state who work daily to strengthen families and prevent child abuse and neglect.