NUMBER OF U.S. CHILDREN IN POVERTY RISES BY 3.7M AFTER BIDEN’S CHILD TAX CREDIT EXPIRED

Sat 19 February 2022:

According to a study released Friday by Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy, approximately 3.7 million more American children fell into poverty in January after the 2021 Child Tax Credit expired.

Without the monthly payments, the child poverty rate increased from 12.1 percent in December 2021 to 17 percent in January, according to the study.

In January, there were 12,574,000 children in poverty in the United States, up from 8,912,000 in December.

The rate in January was at its highest level since the end of 2020.

The Child Tax Credit was made available to eligible families as part of the American Rescue Plan of 2021, which was designed to assist those who were most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Latino children saw the largest percentage-point increase in poverty at 7.1%, followed by Black children at 5.9%.

Asian children saw the smallest increase at 3.2%.

Between July and December 2021, the Internal Revenue Service paid out six months of advance CTC payments, reaching over 61 million children in over 36 million households.

Payments were worth up to $250 per child aged 6 to 17 and up to $300 per child under 6.

“While in place, the monthly Child Tax Credit payments buffered family finances amidst the continuing pandemic, increased families’ abilities to meet their basic needs, reduced child poverty and food insufficiency, and had no discernable negative effects on parental employment,” the study’s authors write.

The last of the IRS checks were mailed in December.

President Joe Biden attempted to extend the CTC, but his Build Back Better Act was hit with opposition from Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., who did not support certain aspects of the spending.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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