Restore the expanded Child Tax Credit

The CTC expansion resulted in an unprecedented decline in child poverty, which reached a record low of 5.2 percent in 2021. More than 2 million children were lifted above the poverty line due to the increase in the credit and disparities in child poverty rates decreased for children of all races and ethnicities.[2] Several ARPA changes were particularly important, including increasing the amount of the credit (to $3,600 per child under age 6 and to $3,000 per child aged 6-17, with 17 years olds being included for the first time), making the credit fully refundable so that low-income families could fully benefit, and allowing the Treasury Department to issue 50 percent of the criteria to families as advance monthly payments. Making the credit fully refundable was particularly critical for Black and Latino children, as well as children in rural areas, because previously large percentages of these families had not earned enough to take full advantage of the credit. With the changes, 27 million additional children from the poorest families received the full CTC.[3]

With a significant body of research demonstrating the link between financial stability and mental health[4][5], not surprisingly the CTC expansion improved mental health. One study found that the expanded CTC was associated with reduced anxiety symptoms for parents receiving the CTC, with Black and Latino families particularly benefitting. The study concluded that “[t]he expanded CTC has the potential to improve the environments in which vulnerable low-income children grow up.”  Congress significantly harmed youth mental health by allowing the expanded CTC to expire. It should restore it without delay.