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Add TANF take-up to microdata construction #535

@MaxGhenis

Description

@MaxGhenis

Summary

TANF currently uses a tanf_reported short-circuit in policyengine-us (#7400) rather than the modeled-with-takeup pattern used by SNAP, EITC, Medicaid, and SSI. Now that 39 states have TANF implementations, we should add TANF takeup to the data package.

Proposed change

  1. Add parameters/take_up/tanf.yaml with state-level takeup rate priors derived from ACF FY2023 caseload data and Census poverty estimates
  2. Add TANF takeup assignment in cps.py:add_takeup() following the Medicaid state-specific pattern
  3. Companion PR in policyengine-us to add takes_up_tanf_if_eligible variable and wire it into TANF formulas

Calibration targets

Already exists: tanf: 9e9 in pull_hardcoded_targets.py (line 19) — $9B total TANF cash assistance from HHS/ACF

Proposed additions (for future calibration improvement):

  • State-level TANF caseload targets from ACF FY2023 data (826K average monthly families nationally)
  • State-level total cash assistance spending from ACF FY2023 financial data ($8.3B nationally on basic assistance)

Takeup rate priors

Using TANF-to-poverty ratios from ACF caseload data / Census ACS poverty estimates, scaled up ~2x to approximate takeup among eligible (since eligible families ≈ 50% of families in poverty due to asset tests, work requirements, time limits). These are priors that will shift during calibration.

National variation is extreme: AR ~3%, TX ~4% to CA ~90%, OR ~60%.

Sources (all primary/gov)

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