Reducing child poverty could, in turn, come with substantial benefits to schools and to student learning.Īlready, studies of existing tax credit benefits programs for families have shown that they increase students’ test scores and likelihood of finishing high school and college. (Other conservatives have argued that the idea is too costly or would disincentivize work.)
The federal poverty line is set at an annual income of $26,500 for a family of four.Įxpanding the child tax credit has drawn broad support from progressives - concerned about child poverty - as well as some conservatives, interested in policies that encourage and support families with children. For Black and Hispanic children, poverty rates would fall from over 20% to around 11%. Permanent child benefits of that kind, estimates show, would cut the country’s child poverty rate from over 13% - roughly 10 million kids - to 7.5%. Because I think once people see the benefit of it, it will stand the test of time,” said Michael Bennet, a Democratic Senator from Colorado who has championed efforts to expand the child tax credit for years. “I’m very happy to have it in this bill even though it’s temporary. But many hope, if enacted as part of another stimulus package, it will ultimately be made permanent. The benefit would also be expanded to reach the lowest income families, who are now - paradoxically - excluded because of how the program is structured.īiden’s proposal is for a temporary, emergency boost to address families’ growing needs during the pandemic. It would raise the existing child tax credit from $2,000 to $3,600 for every child under 6, and raise it to $3,000 for children between ages 6 and 17.
CHILD BEFIT CODE
“Not only will this help children get enough to eat and shore up their other needs, that also means that they will do better in schools.”īiden’s plan, mirroring a previous proposal constructed by several Congressional Democrats, would use the tax code to send additional resources to families with children. “Something that’s exciting is that this will affect children across many dimensions of their lives,” said Diane Schanzenbach, a Northwestern University economist who studies education and poverty. “Reducing childhood poverty is a good thing to do in its own right, and I think it’s going to help these kids do better in school and beyond,” said Michael Petrilli, president of the Fordham Institute, a center-right education think tank. But the idea appeals to a wide swath of educators, researchers, and advocates. The child benefits expansion would cost roughly $120 billion, or several times what the federal government spends on Title I for schools. Study after study has directly linked anti-poverty programs - housing vouchers, food stamps, cash grants, Medicaid, and tax credits - to better academic outcomes for students, including test scores and graduation rates.īiden’s proposal is no sure thing, particularly since it’s attached to a stimulus proposal that has already drawn Republican opposition. Another welcome consequence: those benefits would likely improve students’ performance in school.
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