IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ucf/iopeps/iopeps98-25.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Accounting for the Family: The treatment of marriage and children in European income tax systems

Author

Listed:
  • Cathal O’Donoghue
  • Holly Sutherland

Abstract

In some countries family status has little or no impact on the amount of tax that an individual pays. In others the income tax system plays a major role in the redistribution of income among families of different types. This paper examines the treatment of the family in European tax systems. It surveys the various instruments which are used to take account of marriage and the presence of children and describes the current systems in the 15 European Union countries. Tax systems are expected to achieve many things, and the paper discusses the tradeoffs involved in attempting to reconcile conflicting aims, with a particular focus on the impact of the various approaches on the welfare of children.

Suggested Citation

  • Cathal O’Donoghue & Holly Sutherland, 1998. "Accounting for the Family: The treatment of marriage and children in European income tax systems," Papers iopeps98/25, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    • Handle: RePEc:ucf:iopeps:iopeps98/25
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    To our knowledge, this item is not available for download. To find whether it is available, there are three options:
    1. Check below whether another version of this item is available online.
    2. Check on the provider's web page whether it is in fact available.
    3. Perform a search for a similarly titled item that would be available.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. John Micklewright & Gyula Nagy, 1997. "The Implications of Exhausting Unemployment Insurance Entitlement in Hungary," Papers iopeps97/8, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    2. Giovanni Andrea Cornia & Richard Strickland, 1990. "Rural Differentiation, Poverty and Agricultural Crisis in sub-Saharan Africa: Toward an appropriate policy response," Papers iopeps90/48, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    3. Redmond,Gerry & Sutherland,Holly & Wilson,Moira, 1998. "The Arithmetic of Tax and Social Security Reform," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521632249, September.
    4. Stewart, K., 1997. "Are Intergovernmental Transfers in Russia Equalizing?," Economics Working Papers eco97/22, European University Institute.
    5. Aline Coudouel & John Micklewright & Sheila Marnie, 1998. "Targeting Social Assistance in a Transition Economy: the Mahallas in Uzbekistan," Papers iopeps98/4, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    6. Martha N. Ozawa & Shigemi Kono, 1995. "Child Well-being in Japan: The high cost of economic success," Papers iopeps95/27, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    7. Atkinson, A. B. & Bouguignon, F. & Chiappori, P. A., 1988. "What do we learn about tax reform from international comparisons? France and Britain," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 32(2-3), pages 343-352, March.
    8. Suraiya Ismail & John Micklewright, 1997. "Living Standards and Public Policy in Central Asia: What can be learned from child anthropometry?," Papers iopeps97/5, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    9. Sheldon Danziger & Jonathan Stern, 1990. "Causes and Consequences of Child Poverty in the United States," Papers iopeps90/35, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    10. Shelly J. Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak & Terence J. Wales, 1997. "Do Husbands and Wives Pool Their Resources? Evidence from the United Kingdom Child Benefit," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 32(3), pages 463-480.
    11. Maria Jepsen & Danièle Meulders & Olivier Plasman & Philippe Vanhuynegem, 1997. "Individualisation of the social and fiscal rights and the equal opportunities between women and men," ULB Institutional Repository 2013/8607, ULB -- Universite Libre de Bruxelles.
    12. Callan, Tim & Sutherland, Holly, 1997. "The impact of comparable policies in European countries: Microsimulation approaches," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 41(3-5), pages 627-633, April.
    13. Teimuraz Gogishvili & Joseph Gogodze & Amiran Tsakadze, 1996. "The Transition in Georgia: From collapse to optimism," Papers iopeps96/11, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    14. Holly Sutherland, 1997. "Women, men and the redistribution of Income," Fiscal Studies, Institute for Fiscal Studies, vol. 18(1), pages 1-22, February.
    15. McClements, L. D., 1977. "Equivalence scales for children," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(2), pages 191-210, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Santosh Mehrotra, 2000. "Integrating Economic and Social Policy: Good practices from high achieving countries," Papers inwopa00/9, Innocenti Working Papers.
    2. Lisa Cameron, 2001. "The Impact Of The Indonesian Financial Crisis On Children: An Analysis Using The 100 Villages Data," Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 37(1), pages 43-64.
    3. Lisa A. Cameron, 2001. "An Analysis of the Role of Social Safety Net Scholarships in Reducing School Drop-Out during the Indonesian Economic Crisis," Papers inwopa01/11, Innocenti Working Papers.
    4. Janneke PLANTENGA & Johan HANSEN, 1999. "Assessing equal opportunities in the European Union," International Labour Review, International Labour Organization, vol. 138(4), pages 351-379, December.
    5. Santosh Mehrotra & Mario Biggeri, 2002. "The Subterranean Child Labour Force: Subcontracted home-based manufacturing in Asia," Papers inwopa02/23, Innocenti Working Papers.
    6. Stephens, Melvin Jr & Ward-Batts, Jennifer, 2004. "The impact of separate taxation on the intra-household allocation of assets: evidence from the UK," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(9-10), pages 1989-2007, August.
    7. Santosh Mehrotra & Mario Biggeri, 2002. "Social Protection in the Informal Economy: Home based women workers and outsourced manufacturing in Asia," Papers inwopa02/24, Innocenti Working Papers.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Mel Ainscow & Memmenasha Haile-Giorgis, 1998. "The Education of Children with Special Needs: Barriers and opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe," Papers iopeps98/1, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    2. Olga Cantó Sanchez & Magda Mercader-Prats, 1998. "Child Poverty in Spain: What can be said?," Papers iopeps98/24, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    3. Aline Coudouel & John Micklewright & Sheila Marnie, 1998. "Targeting Social Assistance in a Transition Economy: the Mahallas in Uzbekistan," Papers iopeps98/4, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    4. Anthony B. Atkinson, 2019. "EMU, Macroeconomics and Children," Politica economica, Società editrice il Mulino, issue 3, pages 313-334.
    5. Peter Galasi, 1998. "Income Inequality and Mobility in Hungary 1992-96," Papers iopeps98/3, Innocenti Occasional Papers, Economic Policy Series.
    6. Santosh Mehrotra & Mario Biggeri, 2002. "Social Protection in the Informal Economy: Home based women workers and outsourced manufacturing in Asia," Papers inwopa02/24, Innocenti Working Papers.
    7. Friedhelm Betke, 2001. "The 'Family-in-Focus' Approach: Developing policy-oriented monitoring and analysis of human development in Indonesia," Papers inwopa01/13, Innocenti Working Papers.
    8. Herwig Immervoll & Cathal O'Donoghue, 2009. "Towards a multi-purpose framework for tax-benefit microsimulation: lessons from EUROMOD," International Journal of Microsimulation, International Microsimulation Association, vol. 2(2), pages 43-54.
    9. David Piachaud & Holly Sutherland, 2000. "How Effective is the British Governments Attempt to Reduce Child Poverty?," CASE Papers case38, Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion, LSE.
    10. François Bourguignon & Amedeo Spadaro, 2006. "Microsimulation as a tool for evaluating redistribution policies," The Journal of Economic Inequality, Springer;Society for the Study of Economic Inequality, vol. 4(1), pages 77-106, April.
    11. Santosh Mehrotra, 2000. "Integrating Economic and Social Policy: Good practices from high achieving countries," Papers inwopa00/9, Innocenti Working Papers.
    12. John Micklewright, 2003. "Child Poverty in English-Speaking Countries," Papers inwopa03/25, Innocenti Working Papers, revised 2003.
    13. Lisa A. Cameron, 2001. "An Analysis of the Role of Social Safety Net Scholarships in Reducing School Drop-Out during the Indonesian Economic Crisis," Papers inwopa01/11, Innocenti Working Papers.
    14. Micklewright, John & Klugman, Jeni & Redmond, Gerry, 2002. "Poverty in the Transition: Social Expenditures and the Working-Age Poor," CEPR Discussion Papers 3389, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    15. O'Donoghue, Cathal & Immervoll, Herwig, 2001. "Towards a multi purpose framework for tax benefit microsimulation," EUROMOD Working Papers EM2/01, EUROMOD at the Institute for Social and Economic Research.
    16. John Micklewright, 2000. "Macroeconomics and Data on Children," Papers inwopa00/2, Innocenti Working Papers.
    17. John Micklewright, 1999. "Education, inequality and transition," The Economics of Transition, The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, vol. 7(2), pages 343-376, July.
    18. Roumiana Gantcheva & *UNICEF, 2001. "Children in Bulgaria: Growing impoverishment and unequal opportunities," Papers inwopa01/12, Innocenti Working Papers.
    19. Kitty Stewart & John Micklewright, 2000. "Child Well-Being in the EU and Enlargement to the East," Papers inwopa00/4, Innocenti Working Papers.
    20. Bruce Bradbury & Stephen P. Jenkins & John Micklewright, 2001. "Child Poverty Dynamics in Seven Nations," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 235, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    family income; income distribution; income redistribution; tax systems;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:ucf:iopeps:iopeps98/25. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Patrizia Faustini (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.