John,
About one month ago, the first payments of the child tax credit went out to millions of families. For the first time in U.S. history, families with kids are getting monthly payments to help cover the costs of raising a child—which is an investment that’ll make our country and economy stronger.
And now that the first round of payments is out, the research is clear: Families with kids are using pandemic relief to buy more food.
Before the first round of tax credit payments hit bank accounts in mid-July, about 11% of households with children reported that they sometimes or often did not have enough to eat in the past week.
After the payments were distributed, the rate dropped to just over 8%. This is a decrease of nearly 24%, which is the lowest rate recorded since the beginning of the pandemic. [1]
No doubt about it: The child tax credit is cutting child poverty while making it easier for families to put food on the table—which will make our economy stronger for years to come.
But if you’re a child in a single parent household, your parent is less likely to get this critical tax credit. And in some cases, they may even get a smaller amount than children who are living in families with two parents.
As one of the only single moms in Congress, I’m proud to be in Washington fighting for working families—including working families headed by single parents—because all our children deserve the same amount of support from their government.
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Thank you for all that you do,
Katie
[1] https://www.politico.com/news/2021/08/12/child-tax-credit-hunger-rates-504258
