This payment pattern contrasts with the monthly payments typically associated with AFDC/TANF and food stamps, and it may provide a way to gain addi- tional insight into the nature of credit markets and consumption behavior for low-income families. Our goal in section is to summarize succinctly what has been done, to evaluate the strengths of this work, and to identify areas where addi- tional work could be useful to either verify existing conjectures or alter what we thought was known. In the final sections, we briefly discuss EITC-related policy debates and highlight what, if any, critical economic issues underlie these debates. We also briefly identify issues on which future research.
