In a speech at the National Press Club, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said missing fathers contribute to poverty and government should do what it can to bring them back into the home.
Bloomberg proposed withholding tax refunds from deadbeat dads, increasing participation in the Earned Income Tax Credit and doing away with the marriage penalty tax.
Gerald Prante, a staff economist at the Tax Foundation, said the mayor's proposals make good economic sense.
"The Earned Income Tax Credit is probably one of the most highly defended anti-poverty methods in the tax system," he told Family News in Focus.
And, Prante added, eliminating the marriage penalty could encourage couples to stay together.
"Two single people living together — say a single mom and a single dad, say they have the same kid — they would be better off in some cases in filing separate returns than getting married."
Glenn Stanton, senior analyst for Marriage & Sexuality with Focus on the Family Action, said government is not the best entity to address the problem of fathers leaving families in poverty, but he said Bloomberg's proposed incentives are a step in the right direction — although he said it will take more than a tax break to get them home. And he emphasized that research shows cohabiting does not produce the benefits of marriage.
"Only 10 percent of children living with a married mother and a father lived in poverty. Those numbers skyrocket when a child is living with his own mother and father who aren't married," he said. "What's the difference between those? It's simply, as some people like to call it, 'a mere piece of paper,' a marriage license. But that marriage license really does matter and makes a dramatic difference — between 10 percent and 28 percent — in the poverty level for children."
