A major expansion of the child tax credit program is expected to slash the number of children living in poverty.
The federal government will begin sending monthly payments worth up to $300 per child to millions of Americans beginning July 15, in what is perhaps the most ambitious government initiative of the Biden administration so far.
Some 39 million households, including almost 90 percent of the nation’s children, are set to receive the payments, the Treasury Department says, marking the country’s first-ever child allowance.
The checks will continue to go out each month on the 15th, except when that falls on holidays and weekends, so that people can plan their budgets around them.
“For working families with children, this tax cut sends a clear message: help is here,” said President Joe Biden.
As part of their March stimulus package, Democrats radically expanded the nearly 24-year-old child tax credit, especially for low-income families, increasing it to as much as $3,600 per child from $2,000. They also transformed it from a credit taken once a year at tax time into one people can take piecemeal each month.
Emboldened by the government’s success in sending multiple rounds of stimulus checks to a huge swath of the country during the Covid pandemic, the initiative is designed to provide the poor, in particular, with a steady stream of income to help with unexpected expenses throughout the year.
That’s projected to slash the number of children living in poverty.
The program is only temporary, running through the end of this year, though Democrats want to extend it as part of their latest spending packages.
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The federal government will begin sending monthly payments worth up to $300 per child to millions of Americans starting July 15 https://t.co/epVZCKPiCR
— POLITICO (@politico) May 17, 2021
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