Parents spend considerable time and resources investing in their children’s development. Given evidence that the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) affects maternal labor supply, we investigate how the maximum available EITC amount affects a broad array of time use activities, focusing on the amount and nature of time spent with children. Using 2003–18 time use data, we find that federal and state EITC expansions increase maternal work time, reducing time devoted to home production, leisure, and time with children. However, almost none of the reduction comes from time devoted to “investment” activities, such as active learning and development activities.

Using 4 decades of variation in the federal and state Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), we estimate the impact of exposure to EITC expansions in childhood on education and employment outcomes in adulthood. Reduced-form results suggest that an additional $1,000 in EITC exposure when a child is 13–18 years old increases the likelihood of completing high school (1.3%), completing college (4.2%), and being employed as a young adult (1.0%) and earnings by 2.2%. Our analysis reveals that the primary channel through which the EITC improves these outcomes is increases in pretax family earnings.