Relaxing financial constraints with tax credits and migrating out of rural and distressed America

Abstract

There is a strong and growing interest in helping families move to areas with higher economic opportunity. We exploit variation in the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) to examine how increasing household income affects migration, with a focus on women from rural and economically distressed areas. We find that higher income increases migration out of rural and distressed areas—primarily among unmarried mothers—to areas with higher employment and earnings, and lower unemployment rates. Many of these moves occur across counties or commuting zones, but we find no effect on moving across states. We also find decreases in living “doubled up” with another family, and reductions in commute length. We are the first to show that the EITC helps women move to economic opportunity, with the most likely mechanism being relaxing household financial constraints.