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Parents and children celebrate new monthly Child Tax Credit payments and urge Congress to make them permanent outside Sen. Chuck Schumer’s (D-N.Y.) home on July 12, 2021 in Brooklyn, New York.
(Photo: Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ParentsTogether)
Expanded Child Tax Credit Would Give Boost to 6 Million Poor Children
Ample research indicates that providing additional income to families with low resources yields significant, lasting benefits for young children’s health, education, and future earnings.
Mar 20, 2024
The House-passed bipartisan tax bill would expand the Child Tax Credit for 16 million children in families with low incomes—including 5.8 million young children (under age six)—in its first year, bringing them up to or closer to the full $2,000-per-child amount that children in higher-income families receive. The Senate should pass it without further delay.
Young children of all races and ethnicities would benefit from the bill’s Child Tax Credit expansion. Overall, the expansion would deliver a larger credit to 1 in 4 children under age six. It would benefit even larger shares of Black, Latino, or American Indian or Alaska Native young children, whose parents are overrepresented in low-paid work and may face more limited economic opportunities due to historical and ongoing discrimination and other structural barriers.
Looking at these children under six, we estimate that:
- 39% of all Black;
- 37% of all Latino;
- 34% of all American Indian or Alaska Native;
- 16% of all white; and
- 15% of all Asian children of these ages would benefit.
The expanded Child Tax Credit would provide meaningful support to families. Consider, for example, a married couple with a kindergartner, a toddler, and a newborn. One parent earns $30,000 as a cashier while the other parent stays home to care for their children. The expansion would boost this family’s credit by $1,275 in the first year, helping them afford groceries, utility bills, and other necessary expenses.
Ample research indicates that providing additional income to families with low resources yields significant, lasting benefits for young children’s health, education, and future earnings. The Senate has an opportunity to help 1 in 4 children under age six. Lawmakers should act quickly to pass the bipartisan tax package.
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© 2023 Center on Budget and Policy Priorities
Sarah Calame is a research associate on the Federal Fiscal Policy team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The House-passed bipartisan tax bill would expand the Child Tax Credit for 16 million children in families with low incomes—including 5.8 million young children (under age six)—in its first year, bringing them up to or closer to the full $2,000-per-child amount that children in higher-income families receive. The Senate should pass it without further delay.
Young children of all races and ethnicities would benefit from the bill’s Child Tax Credit expansion. Overall, the expansion would deliver a larger credit to 1 in 4 children under age six. It would benefit even larger shares of Black, Latino, or American Indian or Alaska Native young children, whose parents are overrepresented in low-paid work and may face more limited economic opportunities due to historical and ongoing discrimination and other structural barriers.
Looking at these children under six, we estimate that:
- 39% of all Black;
- 37% of all Latino;
- 34% of all American Indian or Alaska Native;
- 16% of all white; and
- 15% of all Asian children of these ages would benefit.
The expanded Child Tax Credit would provide meaningful support to families. Consider, for example, a married couple with a kindergartner, a toddler, and a newborn. One parent earns $30,000 as a cashier while the other parent stays home to care for their children. The expansion would boost this family’s credit by $1,275 in the first year, helping them afford groceries, utility bills, and other necessary expenses.
Ample research indicates that providing additional income to families with low resources yields significant, lasting benefits for young children’s health, education, and future earnings. The Senate has an opportunity to help 1 in 4 children under age six. Lawmakers should act quickly to pass the bipartisan tax package.
From Your Site Articles
- Civil Rights Groups Demand Senate Reinstate Desperately Needed Child Tax Credit ›
- 'A Mockery': House Passes Tax Bill That Favors Corporations Over Children ›
- 'Morally Obscene': Sanders Blasts GOP, Manchin Over 41% Spike in Child Poverty ›
- Lawmakers Reach Deal to Expand Child Tax Credit—In Exchange for Corporate Tax Cuts ›
- As Paper Shows Benefits of Expanded Child Tax Credit, Sinema Challenger Gallego Says 'Bring It Back' ›
- Congress Just Passed $858 Billion Military Budget, But GOP Is Blocking $12 Billion to Fight Child Poverty ›
- 'Not a Good Deal for Working Families': Sanders Votes No on Tax Bill | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | Both Parties Should Rally Behind Expanding the Child Tax Credit | Common Dreams ›
Sarah Calame is a research associate on the Federal Fiscal Policy team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The House-passed bipartisan tax bill would expand the Child Tax Credit for 16 million children in families with low incomes—including 5.8 million young children (under age six)—in its first year, bringing them up to or closer to the full $2,000-per-child amount that children in higher-income families receive. The Senate should pass it without further delay.
Young children of all races and ethnicities would benefit from the bill’s Child Tax Credit expansion. Overall, the expansion would deliver a larger credit to 1 in 4 children under age six. It would benefit even larger shares of Black, Latino, or American Indian or Alaska Native young children, whose parents are overrepresented in low-paid work and may face more limited economic opportunities due to historical and ongoing discrimination and other structural barriers.
Looking at these children under six, we estimate that:
- 39% of all Black;
- 37% of all Latino;
- 34% of all American Indian or Alaska Native;
- 16% of all white; and
- 15% of all Asian children of these ages would benefit.
The expanded Child Tax Credit would provide meaningful support to families. Consider, for example, a married couple with a kindergartner, a toddler, and a newborn. One parent earns $30,000 as a cashier while the other parent stays home to care for their children. The expansion would boost this family’s credit by $1,275 in the first year, helping them afford groceries, utility bills, and other necessary expenses.
Ample research indicates that providing additional income to families with low resources yields significant, lasting benefits for young children’s health, education, and future earnings. The Senate has an opportunity to help 1 in 4 children under age six. Lawmakers should act quickly to pass the bipartisan tax package.
From Your Site Articles
- Civil Rights Groups Demand Senate Reinstate Desperately Needed Child Tax Credit ›
- 'A Mockery': House Passes Tax Bill That Favors Corporations Over Children ›
- 'Morally Obscene': Sanders Blasts GOP, Manchin Over 41% Spike in Child Poverty ›
- Lawmakers Reach Deal to Expand Child Tax Credit—In Exchange for Corporate Tax Cuts ›
- As Paper Shows Benefits of Expanded Child Tax Credit, Sinema Challenger Gallego Says 'Bring It Back' ›
- Congress Just Passed $858 Billion Military Budget, But GOP Is Blocking $12 Billion to Fight Child Poverty ›
- 'Not a Good Deal for Working Families': Sanders Votes No on Tax Bill | Common Dreams ›
- Opinion | Both Parties Should Rally Behind Expanding the Child Tax Credit | Common Dreams ›
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