During the past 40 years, the federal income tax burden on a family of four has increased dramatically as a share of the family's income.

• The average American family now pays 24.5 percent of its income to the federal government in taxes, compared with only 2 percent in 1950.

• When state and local taxes are included, the government now takes 37.6 percent of the income of the average family with children.

• Among married-couple families where both the husband and wife are employed, two-thirds of the wife's earnings go to pay for increased federal taxes and only one-third to supporting the family.

One root cause of this antifamily bias in the tax code is the eroding value of the personal exemption.

• In 1948, the $600 personal exemption for children shielded 68 percent of the average family's income and the standard deduction shielded the rest.

• To have the same relative value today, the personal exemption would have to be about $7,000 to $8,000.

The second tax blow to family finances has been the increase in Social Security payroll taxes.

• In 1948, the Social Security tax was 2 percent on annual wages of up to $3,000 - 1 percent nominally paid by the employee and 1 percent paid by the employer.

• By 1992, the combined Social Security tax had risen to 15.3 percent on annual wages of up to $55,500.

Families with children now have less aftertax income than elderly households, single persons and couples without children.

Source: Robert Rector, "Reducing the Crushing Tax Burden on America's Families," Backgrounder No. 981, March 7, 1994, Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Avenue, NE, Washington, DC 20002, (202) 546-4400.

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