John,

Child poverty isn’t an inevitability, it’s a policy choice. Obstructionists were successful in blocking the expansion of the Child Tax Credit in 2022. We can’t let them win again this year.

Renewing the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit payments is not only the morally right thing to do, but it’s politically popular. 85% of parents with babies and toddlers want Congress to take swift action in passing the expanded Child Tax Credit and 80% of all voters surveyed said tax breaks for wealthy corporations should not be passed until Congress reinstates the monthly Child Tax Credit. 86% of Democrats, 77% of independents and 64% of Republicans believe passing the expanded Child Tax Credit should be a legislative priority.

If the Child Tax Credit isn’t expanded, 19 million children and their families will continue to be excluded from the full credit because their parents' income is too low. You read that right. Families where a parent can’t work due to illness or being laid off, cannot qualify for the Child Tax Credit at all. But many parents who work at low wages cannot get the full CTC. A single parent earning $15,000 a year and who has two children, will receive less than a family with a parent who has a higher paying job. This is a flaw that does nothing but exacerbate inequity and accelerate the racial wealth gap.

These draconian policy decisions cannot continue in 2023. Join us in calling on President Biden to use his bully pulpit to fight for the expanded Child Tax Credit!

Thank you for all you do,

Nicolai Haddal
Field and Events Manager, Coalition on Human Needs

-- DEBORAH'S EMAIL --

John,

Before the New Year, Congress passed a $1.7 trillion spending bill that increased funding for many human needs programs. But a glaring omission was the lack of the expanded Child Tax Credit. We’re grateful for our allies in Congress who held strong and opposed over $600 billion in corporate tax cuts, providing us with leverage to pass the expanded Child Tax Credit this year.

We know there will be pressure on Congress to revive the corporate tax cuts. But it remains essential to stand firm: no tax breaks to wealthy corporations without investing in children and families. Write a letter to President Biden urging him to use his bully pulpit to continue the fight for the expanded Child Tax Credit! We cannot go another year with more children in poverty, when we already have a solution.

In 2021, the Child Tax Credit was expanded and the full credit was made available to families with the lowest incomes for the first time in its history. As a result, child poverty fell by 46% in 2021, with Black and Hispanic child poverty falling by 6.3 percentage points in each community, impacting 716,000 Black children and 1.2 million Hispanic children.

Political gridlock kept the CTC from being expanded in 2022 and we are determined to not let that happen in 2023.

Child poverty is a policy choice, not an inevitability. Send a message directly to President Biden demanding he fight for the expanded Child Tax Credit in 2023.

The costs of a system where families needing help the most get the least are just too high.

Thank you for all you do to support families and children,

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs