PRESS RELEASE:
For Immediate Release
August 9, 2022

Contact:
Lauren Zehyoue
Email: lauren@kairoscenter.org
Phone: 214-356-0313

Child Tax Credit Proved Crucial for Lifting Families Out of Poverty   

WASHINGTON, D.C.– Today, the Kairos Center for Religions, Rights and Social Justice, Children’s HealthWatch and Revolutionary Healing released, ‘I Didn’t Have to Worry: How the Child Tax Credit Helped Families Catch Up on Rent and Improved Health,’ a report discussing the experiences of  families in key cities across the country with the advance Child Tax Credit (CTC). Families used the up to $300 per month to pay for food, rent, child care, and other necessities for their children. New research discussed in this report highlights the economic and physical and mental health experiences of families with young children during the pandemic and the impact of the advance CTC payments on their lives. 

Dr. Diana Burnett, CEO of Revolutionary Healing and Dr. Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba, Executive Director of Children’s HealthWatch presented the methodology and key findings of the study. Dr. Ettinger de Cuba highlighted the 4 cities nationally that participated in the study: Boston, MA, Little Rock, AR, Philadelphia, PA and Minneapolis, MN. Dr. Ettinger de Cuba concluded, “Our analyses demonstrated that the advance CTC helped families in many ways, especially with catching up on rent and improving parents’ health.” Dr. Burnett confirmed that “although the CTC helped families, the abrupt end of advance CTC payments increased family economic hardship, increased distrust, and created skepticism given the current socioeconomic situation.” Furthermore, Dr. Burnett detailed that “the economic hardships precipitated and amplified by the pandemic that were briefly reduced by the CTC payments exacerbated different forms of insecurity and instability which were connected to decreased physical and mental well-being.”

Key findings from the report show: 

1.       The Child Tax Credit helped families catch up on rent and improved parent health.

2.       Despite the credit’s intention of being a near-universal child benefit, children in immigrant families were significantly less likely to receive the monthly payments.

3.       An inclusive Child Tax Credit, alongside bold policy solutions that reduce economic hardships and promote equity, are urgently necessary as we enter economic uncertainty while still recovering from the COVID-19 global pandemic.

Policy Director of the Kairos Center, Shailly Gupta Barnes said, “What this research tells us is that poverty and economic insecurity are not intractable, inevitable or even individual problems to solve; rather, policies like the expanded Child Tax Credit can lift the load of poverty and its impacts are immediate, tangible and life-giving.”

Between July and December 2021, nearly 60 million children in 35 million families across the United States started receiving crucial financial relief through monthly payments from the advance CTC.  Our analyses revealed low-income families with young children receiving CTC payments were more likely to have caught up on rent payments and other needs and parents were more likely to be in excellent or good health than those not receiving payments. Despite these positive signs, our data also showed notable disparities in which families received the CTC – namely for families with immigrant mothers, Latino families, and those without bank accounts. Given inequitable access to CTC payments and results demonstrating the CTC’s role in supporting economic security and positive health outcomes, this study may be important for identifying and advancing inclusive and equitable policy solutions that amplify the urgent need to extend expanded CTC payments and implement changes that mitigate systemic barriers to access. 

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The Kairos Center, housed at Union Theological Seminary (UTS), is a national

organization committed to building a movement to end poverty, led by the poor. Drawing

on the power of religions and human rights, we are a center for movement strategy,

coordination, and education among the poor across all lines of division. Among other

projects, we co-anchor the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival

(PPC).