Staying Fit
The Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), first established in 1975, is an employment incentive program that reduces poverty by providing income tax relief for many low-to-moderate-income workers. However, due to the credit’s strict and outdated age limit, most workers who meet the income requirements for this credit have their taxes raised once they reach age 65. Today nearly one in five adults ages 65+ are in the workforce, and financial reasons play a key role in the decision to keep working. Removing the outdated age cap on this credit would help keep many workers ages 65+ in the workforce and out of poverty.
In this March 2023 survey, we asked adults ages 50-plus to indicate the degree to which they would support or oppose removing the EITC age cap so that modest-income workers would not have a tax hike simply for reaching age 65. The results reveal that three in four (75%) adults ages 50-plus support removing the age cap, including nearly half (47%) who strongly support removing it and 28 percent who somewhat support removing it.
Methodology
Interviews were conducted from March 23, 2023 through March 28, 2023 among 1,024 U.S. adults age 50-plus in the Foresight 50+ Omnibus. Funded and operated by NORC at the University of Chicago, Foresight 50+ is a probability-based panel designed to be representative of the U.S. household population age 50 or older. Interviews were conducted online and via phone. All data are weighted by age, sex, education, race/ethnicity, region, and AARP membership.
For more information, contact S. Kathi Brown of AARP Research at skbrown@aarp.org. For media inquiries, contact External Relations at media@aarp.org.
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