John,
As one of the only single moms in Congress, let me tell you: there's no discount for raising kids as a single parent. Yet it's harder for kids from single parent homes to get help through the child tax credit, which leaves families headed by single parents to bear more of a financial burden. I call this the “single parent penalty”.
I’m proud to be in Congress to fight for working families—including working families headed by single parents—which is why I’m excited to share with you that, just last week, I introduced a bill to strike the single parent penalty from the tax code.
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What exactly is the child tax credit, and how did it come to be?
The child tax credit is an annual tax credit that provides a financial benefit to Americans with children. The credit lowers the amount you ultimately owe in taxes.
Back in March, the enhanced child tax credit was passed into law as a part of President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, increasing the child tax credit for tax year 2021 (hence, enhanced).
Starting on July 15, families with children will start to gain access to these benefits: $3,600 for children under the age of 6, and $3,000 for children between the ages of 6 and 17.
Who qualifies for the enhanced child tax credit?
In short: if your household has a child under the age of 18, you likely qualify!
But much like the coronavirus stimulus checks that were also passed as a part of the American Rescue Plan, the child tax credit does have income limitations, which are as follows:
This is where we run into the issue.
This is a child tax credit. It’s about the cost of having a child; no child should get less of a benefit just because the marital status of their parents is different.
But if you’re a child in a single parent household, you’re less likely to get the tax credit, and you’ll even get a smaller amount in some cases than children who are living in families with two parents.
So that’s why I call this the single parent penalty, John. But if you really look at it, it’s the children of single parent households who are really being punished here. Despite our research telling us time and time again that children of single parent households often need the most support, our laws don’t yet reflect that.
This is something that I’m continuing to work on, and I’m not going to give up. Children of single parent households deserve just as much support from their government as children in dual parent households.
Thanks for everything,
Katie
