Researchers at Columbia University’ Center on Poverty & Social Policy have been tracking the impact of the CTC on child poverty monthly. According to a research roundup on the first six months of the CTC, payments were shown to reduce food insufficiency, help families address basic needs, and had no discernable impact on parental employment. These researchers predicted the impact that ceasing these monthly payments would have on child poverty as a result of Congress not extending the expanded CTC through the Build Back Better reconciliation. CWLA outlined these estimates in a Children’s Monitor article earlier this year. Unfortunately, they were not far off.
“The monthly child poverty rate increased from 12.1 percent in December 2021 to 17 percent in January 2022, the highest rate since the end of 2020. The 4.9 percentage point (41 percent) increase in poverty represents 3.7 million more children in poverty due to the expiration of the monthly Child Tax Credit payments. Latino and Black children experienced the largest percentage-point increases in poverty (7.1 percentage points and 5.9 percentage points, respectively)” (Columbia University).
View the study here for more information on child poverty rates by race and ethnicity and for total numbers of children in poverty. The study also lists the methods by which child poverty is calculated monthly with access to monthly data provided.
