March 12, 2021
THE OTHER PRO-LIFE PARTY:
New child tax credit could slash poverty now and boost social mobility later (Christopher Pulliam and Richard V. Reeves, March 11, 2021, Brookings)
President Biden has just signed into law a bill that fundamentally restructures the child tax credit for one year as part of a larger relief package. The policy expands the child tax credit and delivers it periodically rather than as a lump sum at tax time--effectively instituting a child allowance administered through the tax code. Under the plan, low- and middle-income families with children will receive a yearly total of $3,000 per child aged 6 to 17 and $3,600 per child under 6.Looking at the supplemental poverty measure (SPM), this single provision is projected to reduce child poverty from nearly 14 percent to 7 and a half percent--a 45 percent reduction--according to researchers at Columbia University's Center on Poverty and Social Policy. The payments are projected to drastically cut child poverty across racial groups, but with particularly large reductions for Black, Hispanic, and Native American children. Similar reductions are expected for the number of children living in deep poverty.
Posted by Orrin Judd at March 12, 2021 8:48 AM