Poverty is an important predictor of child maltreatment. Social policies that strengthen the economic security of low-income families, such as the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), may reduce child maltreatment by impeding the pathways through which poverty leads to it. We used variations in the presence and generosity of supplementary EITCs offered at the state level and administrative child maltreatment data from the National Child Abuse and Neglect Data System (NCANDS) to examine the effect of EITC policies on state-level rates of child maltreatment from 2004 through 2017. Two-way fixed effects models indicated that a 10-percentage point increase in the generosity of refundable state EITC benefits was associated with 241 fewer reports of neglect per 100,000 children (95% Confidence Interval [CI] [−449, −33]). An increase in EITC generosity was associated with fewer reports of neglect both among children ages 0–5 (−324 per 100,000; 95% CI [−582, −65]) and children ages 6–17 (−201 per 100,000; 95% CI [−387, −15]). Findings also suggested associations between the EITC and reductions in other types of maltreatment (physical abuse, emotional abuse); however, those did not gain statistical significance. Economic support policies may reduce the risk of child maltreatment, especially neglect, and improve child wellbeing.

贫困是虐待儿童的一个重要预测因素。加强低收入家庭经济保障的社会政策，例如所得税抵免 (EITC)，可能会通过阻碍贫困导致虐待的途径来减少虐待儿童。我们使用州级提供的补充 EITC 的存在和慷慨程度的变化以及来自国家虐待和忽视儿童数据系统 (NCANDS) 的行政虐待儿童数据来检查 EITC 政策对 2004 年以来州级虐待儿童率的影响到 2017 年。双向固定效应模型表明，可退还的州 EITC 福利慷慨增加 10 个百分点与每 100,000 名儿童的忽视报告减少 241 人相关（95% 置信区间 [CI] [-449, -33 ]）。EITC 慷慨程度的增加与 0-5 岁儿童（每 100,000 人 -324 人；95% CI [-582, -65]）和 6-17 岁儿童（每 100,000 人 -201 人；95% CI [-387，-15]）。调查结果还表明，EITC 与减少其他类型的虐待（身体虐待、情感虐待）之间存在关联；然而，这些没有获得统计学意义。经济支持政策可以降低虐待儿童的风险，尤其是忽视儿童的风险，并改善儿童福祉。那些没有获得统计学意义。经济支持政策可以降低虐待儿童的风险，尤其是忽视儿童的风险，并改善儿童福祉。那些没有获得统计学意义。经济支持政策可以降低虐待儿童的风险，尤其是忽视儿童的风险，并改善儿童福祉。