California’s generous supplement to the federal government’s earned-income tax credit is poorly designed, a new study says. California provides the biggest supplement of any state to its lowest-income workers. But the credit — which is intended to make working more remunerative — has no effect on the employment of less-skilled single mothers, according to the paper by David Neumark and Zeyu Li of University of California, Irvine. California’s supplement phases out rapidly as income rises, so it discourages recipients from earning more money, Neumark and Li found. 

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