September 1, 2023
From The Nation:
The expansion of the child tax credits under the American Rescue Plan halved child poverty. When the policy ended, child poverty shot back up.
Not everyone in Congress has lost sight of what could have been. In June, Representatives Rosa DeLauro, Suzan DelBene, and Ritchie Torres reintroduced the American Family Act to make the expanded version of the child tax credit permanent. But Republicans haven’t gotten on board. They stood in unison to prevent Democrats from passing it in 2022. The bill has more than 200 cosponsors, all Democrats. Even the few Republicans who want to increase the child tax credit insist on adding work requirements that would exclude the poorest families. Our radical experiment in reducing child poverty worked spectacularly well. But with one party opposed, it stands little chance of becoming a lasting reality.
Read the full article here.
