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- Policy Impact Calculator: 2020 through 2024
Policy Impact Calculator: 2020 through 2024
WHAT IS THE POLICY IMPACT CALCULATOR?
What level of resources does a single parent with an infant and a toddler have to provide for their children in your state? How much do they have left of their earnings from their minimum wage job after they pay for child care? Are they able to access the state and federal benefits that they are eligible for and how much do these benefits help their bottom line? Do they fare better in a nearby state?
The Policy Impact Calculator brings the Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap to life and compares the level of resources available to a family of three based on each state’s policy choices. The calculator demonstrates the substantial variation in available resources during the critical prenatal to age 3 period across the country, driven by state policy choices.
Across all 50 states and the District of Columbia, the Policy Impact Calculator accounts for state and federal policies that interact complexly to create a system of support for parents and children, specifically:
- State minimum wage
- Paid family and medical leave (PFML)
- Child care subsidies
- Federal nutrition programs (SNAP and WIC)
- Federal and state income taxes and credits (CTC and EITC)
- Federal and state payroll deductions (FICA and PFML premiums)
WHAT DID WE FIND IN 2024?
When the Roadmap policies and strategies for each state are combined, we see that the level of resources a family has available to meet their basic needs varies substantially, from more than $53,000 per year in Colorado to less than $21,000 in Idaho.
HOW DOES YOUR STATE MEASURE UP?
The interactive graphics below demonstrate how a state’s specific policy choices impact a family’s total resources and how the level of resources available varies across states. We rank states by the total resources available to our family of three and provide an additional graphic with an adjustment for cost of living.
HOW TO USE: Hover over the bar charts to see your state’s data. In the second graphic, click on the gray tabs to view both total resources and total resources adjusted for cost of living. To download graphics, hover cursor anywhere over the graphic and click on the three dots in the top right corner. More details on calculations can be found below.
HOW DO WE CALCULATE RESOURCES?
Our calculations simulate the level of resources available annually for a single parent with an infant and toddler. The parent works full time at a minimum wage job for 9 months and takes 12 weeks of leave from work under the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) following the birth of the infant. If a state has a paid family and medical leave (PFML) program, benefits from paid family and medical leave are included in the calculation. We assume the parent uses a child care subsidy to enroll both children in center-based child care that charges the equal access target rate (which is the 75th percentile of the state’s market rate survey).
Our calculations begin with the total annual earnings at the state minimum wage and, where available, paid family and medical leave benefits. We subtract the family’s out-of-pocket costs for child care, which include any required copayment, plus additional fees if the state’s child care subsidy reimbursement rate is less than the price of care. We then add the resources that a family would expect to receive from federal nutrition benefits (SNAP and WIC) and federal and state earned income and child tax credits (EITC and CTC). Lastly, we subtract any federal or state income taxes, as well as payroll contributions under the federal insurance contribution act (FICA) and state paid family and medical leave programs.
For additional information on the Policy Impact Calculator methodology, see Methods and Sources.
Related Resources: Economic Supports, Prenatal-to-3 State Policy Roadmap, State Policy News
