Strategies: Racial Wealth Building

Expand refundable earned income tax credits for working individuals and families with low to moderate incomes

Increase the lowest hourly, daily, or monthly compensation that employers may legally pay to workers

Establish locally mandated wages that are higher than state or federal minimum wage levels

Expand federal or state child tax credits by increasing credit amounts, making credits refundable, decreasing or eliminating the earnings threshold, or creating a fully refundable supplement

Adopt policies that allow custodial parents who receive Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) to collect all child support paid by the non-custodial parent; no portion is retained by the state

Increase compensation provided to unemployed workers looking for jobs by expanding eligibility, amount, or duration of benefits

Provide financial assistance to working parents, or parents attending school, to pay for child care

Offer a refundable tax credit to working families with qualifying children or other dependents that receive care outside the home (e.g., a spouse with disabilities)

Support subsidized asset accumulation programs in which deposits by participants with low and moderate incomes are matched by program sponsors; withdrawals must be used for qualified expenses to retain matching funds

Regulate short-term loans that must be repaid by a borrower’s next pay day via bans, caps on maximum interest rates and loan amounts, or require minimum loan terms and credit cost