Opinion: Should We Continue the Child Tax Credit?

Should We Continue the Child Tax Credit?

BY: EIMY MENA

The Child Tax Credit was established in 1997 as part of the Tax Relief Act to allow eligible recipients to receive tax credit support for each child. The tax credit is available to assist low-income families in meeting their financial obligations. The child tax credit is a significant component today, and many people regard it as a valuable government asset for keeping children out of poverty. According to the official poverty measure, 11.6 million children — or 16 percent of all kids in the country — were living in poverty in 2020. Since 2019, the number of children has increased by more than a million. (Bureau, 2022). Because of COVID-19, this payment is now available to a greater number of families than previously. Since the start of the pandemic, the child tax credit amount has increased from $2,000 to as much as $3,600 per child under the age of six and $3,000 per child up to 17. It aims to

support families who have suffered from unemployment and lack of child care. Prior to the pandemic, families had to have made at least $2,500 in earned income to be eligible to receive any credit (Jagoda & Folley, 2021). But this has changed with the new government. Regardless, there has been a continuing matter as places are opening up, and mask mandates are being lifted, with more people getting vaccinated. Today, the credit has reverted to $2,000 per child with no monthly payments. This reversion has caused many families to gather outside and protest for their rights to receive better payments. In fact, only families that meet certain requirements will be eligible for an extension of the expanded child tax credit (LorieKonish, 2022). This is important to know because President Joe Biden has made it clear that his priority is to provide more benefits and increase the child tax credit. But nevertheless, there has been a dispute from many people, especially on the part of Senator Joe Machin. His suggestion to the proposal of President Biden to continue the expanded child tax credit has become a concern for many people. According to Jagoda & Folley (2021), Senator Manchin has suggested requiring taxpayers to be pursuing education or working to be eligible to receive the expanded child tax credit. (Jagoda & Folley, 2021). This would mean child tax care will not be accessible for everyone, and the tax credit’s purpose of aiding low-income families would be missing. You would need to meet more strict requirement to receive a child tax credit. Senator Manchin argues that he wants to “let the right people receive the aid.” (Jagoda & Folley, 2021). Regardless of his position, President Biden insists that the expanded child tax credit will benefit the families as the economy in the country. And that is the reason President Biden proposed this in his Build Back Better agenda. Expanding the child tax credit, in my opinion, will benefit a greater number of low-income families. It will aid in the reduction of child poverty and provide more opportunities for those communities. According to data, the poverty rate increased drastically. Between 2019 and 2020, the Hispanic population had a poverty rate of 17 percent. In addition, the poverty rate among Blacks was the highest at 19 percent. (Bureau, 2022). This is critical to understand because the expanded child tax credit has the potential to reduce the annual poverty rate by 45 percent (Acs & Werner).

Eimy Mena ’22

Major: International Business Hometown: Santo Dgo, Dominican Republic

REFERENCES

Bureau, U. S. C. (2022, March 1). Income and poverty in the United States: 2020. Census.gov. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://www.census. gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html Jagoda, N., & Folley, A. (2021, October 20). Democrats at odds with manchin over child tax credit provision. TheHill. Retrieved March 3, 2022, from https://thehill.com/policy/finance/577485-democrats-at-odds-withmanchin-over-child-tax-credit-provision?rl=1 LorieKonish. (2022, March 1). Americans are eager for more monthly child tax credit checks. future payments could come with work requirements.

CNBC. Retrieved March 2, 2022, from https://www.cnbc.com/2022/03/01/ future-child-tax-credit-payments-could-come-with-work-requirements. html Acs, G., & Werner, K. (n.d.). How a permanent expansion of the child tax credit could ... Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://www.urban.org/ sites/default/files/publication/104626/how-a-permanent-expansionof-the-child-tax-credit-could-affect-poverty.pdf