Restore the Child Tax Credit

A diverse group of religious leaders is calling on President Joseph Biden and members of Congress to expand the Federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) before the 117th Congress completes its work on December 31. 

In a letter sent last month, they noted that they support full refundability for the poorest families and monthly payments - two provisions that they say are especially important to the CTC’s impact among children. 

 

From the letter:

 

The temporary expansion of the CTC that Congress approved last spring reduced child poverty and food insecurity among families with children to lower levels than ever before in our nation’s history. Evaluative studies from Columbia University and Washington University show that the families who benefited used the money for food, rent, and other basic household expenses. They also show that employment among adults in these families did not decline. How can we not build on these wonderful results? 

 

Yet the expanded CTC expired last December, and child poverty has increased dramatically this year - up 25%. Inflation is hitting families with children especially hard, adding to the urgency of action on the CTC. Nineteen million children did not receive the full CTC amount because their parents’ incomes are too low, including 45 percent of all Black children and 39 percent of Latino children. Expanding the CTC through full refundability is one step to meaningfully reduce racial disparities. 

 

Locally, the New York State Council of Churches is also calling on the Congress to return the tax credit to its generous original form, noting that it which was shown to reduce child poverty by 30%. 

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