New national report: More than half a million Michigan children could be pushed into poverty if Congress fails to expand the Child Tax Credit 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Nov. 21, 2022

Contact:
Alex Rossman
arossman@mlpp.org
517-775-9053
*For national perspective, contact: Nanci Flores, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, (202) 325-8768, nflores@cbpp.org

New national report: More than half a million Michigan children could be pushed into poverty if Congress fails to expand the Child Tax Credit 

2022 Lame Duck session likely last opportunity to make major change to tackle child poverty, support parents and kids for next two years…or more

LANSING—Congress has a real chance in the upcoming Lame Duck session to prevent greater hardship for the 554,000 Michigan children who do not receive the full $2,000 Child Tax Credit because their families’ earnings are too low, according to a new report released last week by the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP). This includes more than 1 in 4 children living in rural Michigan.

Last year’s American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit, giving millions of families with low incomes a boost and driving child poverty down to a record low. But Congress allowed the Child Tax Credit expansion to lapse this year, putting 19 million children across the country at risk of being pushed into poverty or facing greater hardship. Children from Black, Latinx and American Indian families are disproportionately likely to fall behind.

Yet, as Congress considers its priorities for the end-of-year spending package, special interests are pushing for more tax breaks for profitable corporations—even as Michigan families face rising costs. The Michigan League for Public Policy is urging the Michigan delegation to put kids and families first, not corporate tax breaks.

“As families struggled to get through the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic strain, passing the American Rescue Plan Act and the expansion of the Child Tax Credit was a major policy win for the current Congress and the kids and families they represent–in Michigan and nationwide,” said Monique Stanton, President and CEO for the Michigan League for Public Policy. “And as the Lame Duck session and new House Majority loom, they have one last chance to permanently expand the CTC and have a major, lasting impact on child poverty.”

The Child Tax Credit is a proven-effective program that helps families with children by providing more money in their pocket when they file their taxes. That’s more money to help meet rising costs and cover basics, such as housing, food, medicine, clothes and school supplies.

But a flaw in the credit’s design leaves kids in families with the lowest incomes behind by giving them only a partial credit or no credit at all, even as children in wealthier families receive the full benefit. By correcting this flaw, ARPA lifted millions of the poorest kids out of poverty.

Poverty and the hardships that come with it, such as unstable housing and hunger, can take a heavy toll on children, such as lower levels of educational attainment and poorer health and reduced incomes in adulthood.

“The success of the 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion showed us that high child poverty rates are a policy choice, not an inevitability,” said Chuck Marr, CBPP’s Vice President for Federal Tax Policy and author of the report. “All kids deserve a fair shot at success, no matter their race or parents’ income. The choice before Congress this year is simple: They can act, or they can see millions of children fall back into poverty.”

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