Our biggest antipoverty program for the working poor is the Earned Income Tax Credit. In 2021, 25 million workers and families received this subsidy, the average payment being $2,411.[36] The EITC is one of the nation’s most enduring antipoverty programs, in large part because of its strong bipartisan backing. But perhaps the primary reason the EITC enjoys such widespread support is because it functions as a generous handout to corporations. Among the loudest champions of the EITC have been multinational businesses, whose low wages are effectively subsidized through the program.
