Parents reported that the monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) advance payments have reduced financial stress, helped them to afford necessities and, for about one-quarter of respondents receiving monthly payments, work more hours outside of the home, according to a new national survey.
A nationally representative sample of 1,031 households with children under 18 with incomes below $150,000 was polled in the first two weeks of July, prior to initial distribution of advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments by the IRS.
Under the American Rescue Plan, President Biden expanded the existing child tax credit (CTC) and made it fully refundable, both increasing the benefits families receive and allowing families to receive increments of the benefit monthly. Now we need to make it permanent.
Restricting access to the CTC will take food off the table, hurt children’s development-deepening child poverty and exacerbating the poverty cycle-while putting America’s economic future at risk.