Critical Reasoning

Low-income families are often unable to afford as much child care as they need. One government program would award low-income families a refund on the income taxes they pay of as much as $1,000 for each child under age four. This program would make it possible for all low-income families with children under age four to obtain more child care than they otherwise would have been able to afford.

Which of the following, if true, most seriously calls into question the claim that the program would make it possible for all low-income families to obtain more child care?

(A) The average family with children under age four spends more than $1,000 a year on child care.

(B) Some low-income families in which one of the parents is usually available to care for children under age four may not want to spend their income tax refund on child care.

(C) The reduction in government revenues stemming from the income tax refund will necessitate cuts in other government programs, such as grants for higher education.

(D) Many low-income families with children under age four do not pay any income taxes because their total income is too low to be subject to such taxes.

(E) Income taxes have increased substantially over the past 20 years, reducing the money that low-income families have available to spend on child care.

The conclusion is quite extreme because it claims that all low-income families will be able to obtain additional child care. The right answer needs only to show that some such families (1+) will still be unable to get the additional child care. Maybe these are families that do not pay income tax (so they won't receive the $1,000 refund) or that will not receive the money as planned.

The answer is D. I go through the question in detail in the full solution below (taken from the GMATFix App).



-Patrick