By Bobbi Dempsey, The Guardian, August 25, 2021
Four weeks ago the Biden administration officially began implementing the child tax credit in what was hailed by Columbia University as an initiative that could “cut child poverty in half in the US”. Most eligible families have received just one monthly installment so far – but for many American parents struggling to make ends meet during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis, it has already made a huge difference.
The American Rescue Plan – passed in March – included expanded credit payments, which increased from $2,000 in 2020 to $3,600 for each child under age six, and $3,000 for children ages six through 17, this year. The funds are distributed in monthly payments of either $250 or $300 for each child.
Experts have said this action could help lift millions of children out of poverty. Even before the pandemic, more than one in six children in the US lived in food-insecure households, according to the Children’s Defense Fund, and nearly 11 million children were living in poverty. But as it stands now, the expanded credit applies only to this tax year, and some Democratic leaders and advocates have called for it to be made permanent.
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