The benefit is expected to be reversed because Congress did not approve an extension of the improved benefit or an extension of monthly payments. He would have used the money to fix the brakes on his family's only vehicle, a van. He would have taken his four children to the eye doctor because they all need new glasses. Some of the money would have gone to save to fix the roof of his house in Orlando, Florida.
But in December, Congress left Washington for the winter recess without approving President Biden's Build Back Better agenda, which included an extension of the expanded child tax credit (CTC). Now, families are struggling to adapt to not having this constant financial support, as the pandemic continues and inflation increases. Many have to radically reorganize their lives, sometimes just to pay for their basic needs. Around the same time the expanded monthly payments were announced, Cousins says, his van's transmission shut down.
Without the credit, it would have taken four to six months for the family to save enough money to repair the car. But thanks to the extra money, they were able to repair it in two months. Unfortunately, the problems with the car didn't end there. The expansion of the child tax credit was particularly beneficial for lower-income families.
As the child tax credit policy was originally designed, Fulton explains, half of Black and Latino families and families in rural communities couldn't get full credit because they didn't earn enough money. The expanded policy, now expired, helped close that gap. It also notes that 1 in 4 families with young children used their monthly CTC payment to cover child care costs. Now that payments have run out, Fulton says it's not clear what the unemployment figures will look like next month, as some people may have to stay home with their children.
Rachel Rivera is one of the mothers who had to make that decision. Without the monthly payments, he's had to work more in family stores and retailers in New York, but he's still struggling financially. The single mother says she has difficulty paying rent in Brooklyn and not being evicted, putting food on the table and getting basic necessities for her family, including a daughter who has respiratory problems. Rivera discovered through Facebook posts that the expanded tax credit was about to end and that she would not receive a payment in January.
For now, Rivera is still working, without paying his full rent in order to pay for food. At the same time, try to make sure your daughter stays healthy. He has asked for help, but says it is difficult to get financial aid because everyone has difficulties. At a news conference Wednesday, Biden suggested that Democrats would need to divide their social spending agenda into different laws for it to pass.
But even if the legislation is broken, the president still faces opposition from Republicans and Democrats, such as Sen. Joe Manchin, from West Virginia, who said he was concerned about the cost of the legislation and how it would contribute to rising inflation. Privately, Manchin also expressed concern that parents who received the monthly credit would use the money for drugs, according to the Huffington Post. Meanwhile, since the program has expired, the consequences have already become dire for some children across the country.
With monthly payments, a federal survey also showed a drop in the number of families who reported that they didn't have enough to eat. That number is likely to increase in the coming weeks. Academics studying the tax credit don't know how a permanent program would affect the economy and child welfare. The amount of the tax credit increased again and became refundable in 2001 to coordinate with the earned income tax credit.
Research has found that additional revenues from policies such as the child tax credit improve the health, educational performance, future income and life prospects of children from low-income families. The expanded child tax credit payments had helped pay for his son's daycare, in addition to allowing him to splurge on clothes for him. In addition, the American Rescue Plan extended the full child tax credit permanently to Puerto Rico and the U. Some legislators have already made it clear that they do not support going ahead with corporate tax relief without an expansion of the child tax credit.
ARPA made the tax credit temporarily fully refundable and paid half of the total credit in monthly payments for the first six months, rather than once a year. For example, in response to the census report, Senators Bennet, Brown and Booker and Rep. DeLauro, DelBene and Torres said that Congress should not enact corporate tax provisions in year-end legislation without also expanding the child tax credit. Manchin's opposition in the Senate, divided equally, derailed Biden's social spending package and caused the expanded tax credits that were due in the middle of each month to expire in January.
The American Rescue Plan increased the child tax credit and expanded its coverage to better help families who care for children. The expansion of the child tax credit, especially for low-income families who today receive less than the full credit, is even more important in the future because other relief measures have expired, such as economic impact payments, which also increased family income during the COVID pandemic. -19. The COVID-19 pandemic created or aggravated economic burdens for many families, and recent legislative trends suggest that states are increasingly considering child tax credits.
On the contrary, increasing children's inadequate family income with an expanded child tax credit and reducing long-term poverty would mean better lifelong health, better education and higher income and better economic circumstances in adulthood. . .
