Child poverty and inequality continues to be an important problem in the industrialized world. To help combat this, many industrialized countries use income transfers administered through the tax system, which aim to reduce poverty and inequality, and improve social mobility for children. In Canada the Canada Child Tax Benefit (CCTB) and National Child Benefit (NCB) are our main transfer programs. In the United States, it is the Earned Income Tax Credit. In the U.K., it is the child tax credit. In all cases, these programs help children do better in school and have better health outcomes. At that same time they directly reduce inequality and poverty by using general taxes, which are larger for the rich than the poor in Canada, to transfer money directly to people at the lower end of the income distribution.

Read the full article at The Globe and Mail.
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