Bruce Bartlett Opinion Editorial: Black and Middle-Class Couples Hit Hardest by Marriage Penalty

Opinion Editorial
Monday, January 5, 1998
Black and Middle-Class Couples Hit Hardest by Marriage Penalty

Congressional Republicans have indicated that elimination of the so-called marriage penalty will be their highest tax priority in 1998. A marriage penalty occurs when a husband and wife both work, causing them to pay more taxes as a couple than they would pay if both were taxed as singles. Already, however, liberals are attacking the plan as a give-away to the rich. The New York Times charges that 90 percent of the benefits will accrue to families earning more than $50,000.

While it is true that a majority of couples impacted by the marriage penalty have a combined income of more than $50,000, very few would view themselves as rich.

The highest percentage of couples hit by the marriage penalty each earn between $20,000 and $30,000 per year (see figure).

The percentage of those affected by the marriage penalty tends to be small for low-income couples and declines for high-income couples.

Indeed, the current system of rewarding single-earner couples with bonuses does far more to benefit the rich than eliminating the marriage penalty would. A marriage bonus occur when a couple pays less taxes by filing jointly than they would pay as singles.

In fact, according to a recent article in the University of Cincinnati Law Review (Spring 1997), blacks suffer disproportionately from the marriage penalty. According to the author, Dorothy Brown, "Black taxpayers are more likely to pay a marriage tax, whereas white taxpayers are more likely to receive a marriage bonus."

The reason is because among married couples, black women are more likely to work than white women. Furthermore, working black women on average provide a higher percentage of the couple's total income than working white women.

According to a 1990 study by the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, 75 percent of black women work full-time, whereas only 62 percent of white women do.

And working black women contribute 40 percent family earnings, while working white women contribute just 29 percent.

These facts are important to the debate about the marriage penalty because it occurs only when both spouses work. And it tends to be greatest when the husband and wife each earn roughly the same income. Thus if married black women work in higher percentages and earn incomes closer to their husbands', they are much more likely to be impacted by the marriage penalty.

Republicans should not be frightened by liberal attacks. They are on firm ground when opposing the marriage penalty. It mainly hurts blacks and the middle class. Getting rid of the marriage penalty is no give-away to the rich.

Source: Bruce Bartlett (senior fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis), January 5, 1998.

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