COVID-19 watch
Tracking Hardship - December 2, 2022
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The no relief for corporations unless we help families edition. Congress has returned for its lame-duck session, and corporate lobbyists are frantically pressuring members to approve business tax breaks before they leave later this month. But families and human needs advocates are telling their Senators that expanding the Child Tax Credit (CTC) must be a priority in any year-end tax package. In particular, advocates are insisting on full refundability for the CTC so that 19 million children in low-income families across the U.S. are not excluded from receiving all or any of the current $2,000 per-child CTC.
Child poverty is not inevitable; it is a policy choice. In 2021, when Congress expanded the CTC as part of the historic American Rescue Plan, it chose to reduce poverty to a record low. But when Congress allowed the CTC expansion to expire one year ago, it chose to allow child poverty to once again rise to unconscionable levels. And as is the case with so many things pandemic-related, this choice by Congress has a disproportionate racial impact. Children of color, for example, are disproportionately excluded from receiving the full CTC under current law.
As you will read in this newsletter, parents overwhelmingly favor expanding the CTC – both Democrats and Republicans. And these parents are struggling – almost one in seven families with children report sometimes or often not having enough to eat in the previous seven days, according to the latest U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey data. Shockingly, almost half of families with children report having trouble meeting usual household expenses during the previous week.
You can help us hold Congress accountable. Our friends at MomsRising have set up both a hotline and a text message system, Call 1-888-496-4842 or text CTCNow to 747464. Our message is simple. No tax breaks for big business unless families get a break as well.
You can share these numbers on Facebook and Twitter.
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Largely because of the expanded Child Tax Credit, the child poverty rate in 2021 fell to 5.2 percent, the lowest rate ever, according to a new report released this week. Making the CTC fully refundable was the primary reason for the reduction in poverty. Tweet this.
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In 2021, the expanded Child Tax Credit kept 5.3 million people above the poverty line. But when Congress allowed the CTC expansion to expire, child poverty rose by more than 40 percent and the number of people with children who did not always have enough to eat increased by 25 percent. Tweet this.
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A number of studies have found that Child Tax Credit payments have no discernible impact on employment trends. These findings wholeheartedly refute claims by opponents of CTC expansion that the monthly payments somehow discouraged parents from working. Tweet this.
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Under current law, 19 million children in families with the lowest incomes are excluded from some or all of the full Child Tax Credit. For example, a single parent earning $15,000 with two children can only receive $1,875 from the current CTC, while married parents earning $400,000 receive the full $4,000. Tweet this.
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Eighty-five percent of parents with children ages 0-3 say it is important for Congress to reinstate the expanded Child Tax Credit and nearly 75 percent say Congress should not pass any more tax breaks for corporations unless it acts to extend the CTC expansion. That’s according to a new poll released this week by the children's advocacy group Zero to Three. Tweet this.
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