“H. Luke Shaefer, a poverty expert at the University of Michigan, said there is substantial data showing a large increase of families going without any cash income over the past 20 years. He said Congress should keep the earned-income tax credit as a work inducement and include a separate plan, like Tlaib’s, to help those who have fallen out of the labor market.“The work incentive is good, but we should layer something on top of that so we’re not leaving out the poorest families. You can keep the work incentive and not cut people out who have fallen on extremely hard times,” Shaefer said. About 2 million Americans have no gross income, according to the Internal Revenue Service, while another 10 million have between $1 and $5,000 in gross income.”

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