How governments should direct money to families with children is a constant topic of political debate. But the complexity of the ever-changing tax and benefits system makes its overall impact on families anything but transparent, and trends in government support for children hard to distinguish. This report provides a comprehensive, quantitative analysis of trends in child-contingent support from the mid 1970s to the introduction of the new tax credits, and relates this to changes in tax and benefit policy, the characteristics of households with children, and the costs of raising children.

Two strategies that governments have to help people on low incomes - providing them with financial support directly, and encouraging them to earn more - generally conflict. This report provides new evidence on the trade-off between redistributing income and improving work incentives.Drawing on large-scale survey data spanning the last 26 years, the report analyses the incomes and work incentives facing thousands of individuals and families, and how they are affected by the tax and benefit system. It shows how work incentives vary across the population and how this has changed since 1979 and...