Nearly one in seven children in the United States live in poverty and about 6 percent of all children live in deep poverty. President Joe Biden’s American Families Plan would tackle child poverty in an immediate, meaningful way. It is expected to extend the one-year Child Tax Credit (CTC) enhancements included in the March 2021 American Rescue Plan (ARP) through 2025. Next year alone, this would provide around a $110 billion collective income boost to roughly 88 percent of children in the United States.
Child Tax Credit
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blog June 11, 2021 Child Tax Credit Is a Critical Component of Biden Administration’s Recovery Package
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blog April 27, 2021 Inclusive Child Tax Credit Reform Would Restore Benefit to 1 Million Young ‘Dreamers’
As the Biden administration maps out the next steps in America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic—through what is now being called the American Families Plan—it should make sure a proposed expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) includes undocumented children who have largely been left out of federal relief packages this past year. Prior to 2017 Tax Cut and Jobs Act, all children regardless of their immigration status received the credit as long as their parents met the income eligibility requirements. This change essentially excluded around 1 million children and their families.
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blog April 27, 2021 Alvin Schorr and the Policy Relay Race
Sometimes a good idea takes a while. Alvin Schorr, who would have turned 100 this month, helped draft a 1972 bill “to provide for a system of children’s allowances.” He continued to push (in a 1977 congressional testimony and in a 1983 New York Times op-ed) for a refundable tax credit for all families and a children’s allowance, among other laudable ideas. A half-century later, these ideas—which many others have championed—are becoming reality.
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blog April 8, 2021 What to Expect from Biden and Congressional Democrats on Tax Increases for Individuals
The Biden administration has already provided details on its corporate tax proposals and in the next couple of weeks is expected to propose tax changes for individuals. Meanwhile, congressional Democrats have some ideas of their own. What should we expect?
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blog February 2, 2021 President Biden’s Child Tax Credit Proposal Could Right a Historical Wrong
Many 1990s policies were grounded in harmful, erroneous ideas such as financial struggles are due to personal shortcomings and less government is better. Lawmakers didn’t apply these ideas consistently, however. For example, there was no drive to reduce corporate welfare even as policymakers slashed the safety net and disinvested in lower-income communities. So, it’s not surprising that a bipartisan group of lawmakers concluded during that era that the CTC was an appropriate vehicle to give higher-income households a tax break while leaving out poor children.
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report January 26, 2021 Child Tax Credit Enhancements Under the American Rescue Plan
President Joe Biden’s coronavirus relief package, the American Rescue Plan, includes a significant expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC). The president’s proposal provides a $125 billion boost in funding for the program, which would essentially double the size of the existing federal credit for households with children. Combined with existing law, the CTC provisions in Biden’s plan would provide a 37.4 percent income boost to the poorest 20 percent of families with children who make $21,300 or less a year.
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blog September 18, 2020 New ITEP Estimates on Biden’s Proposal to Expand the Child Tax Credit
On Thursday, former Vice President Joe Biden announced that his tax plan would include a provision passed by House Democrats to temporarily expand the Child Tax Credit (CTC), potentially lifting millions of children out of poverty.
Estimates from ITEP show that this change would benefit most families with children—more than 83 million children live in households that would benefit if this was in effect in 2020—but the most dramatic boost would go to low-income families.