The U.S. Senate has a crucial opportunity to expand the highly successful Child Tax Credit (CTC) by adopting the bipartisan tax bill that recently passed the U.S. House of Representatives with overwhelming support. The CTC expansion in the tax bill would provide much needed resources for 16 million U.S. children in working families with low
Poverty statistics are essential for determining how prevalent poverty is in the United States and documenting whose basic needs are going unmet. This data also helps to target resources and assess the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs. A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends updating the methodology used by the
President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty” in the 1960’s. But, nearly 60 years later, millions of Americans still live below the poverty line. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated more than 11% of the country’s population was at or below the poverty line. Matt Desmond, though, says there are things all of us can
Amna Nawaz: Then, in March of 2021, President Biden signed the American Rescue Plan. The nearly $2 trillion relief package passed with only Democratic votes extended unemployment benefits, sent stimulus checks to individuals, ramped up food stamps and housing assistance, and significantly expanded the federal child tax credit, or CTC. Pre-pandemic, that credit gave parents
President Lyndon Johnson declared a “war on poverty” in the 1960’s. But, nearly 60 years later, millions of Americans still live below the poverty line. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated more than 11% of the country’s population was at or below the poverty line. Matt Desmond, though, says there are things all of us can
Key Takeaways Two major expansions of the Child Tax Credit — one in 2017 focused on simplification and one in 2021 focused on generosity — represent two distinct approaches to supporting families in the tax code. Both expansions are steps in the right direction. Simplifying tax credits and making them more generous are complementary goals
We all agree that we should do what we can to ensure that children thrive. But legislators often lack the will to act on opportunities to do just that. Children from racial minority groups too often bear a higher burden from those failures to act. A proposed expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) —
