December Child Tax Credit kept 3.7 million children from poverty

The sixth Child Tax Credit payment kept 3.7 million children from poverty in December. In absence of a January payment though, the monthly child poverty rate could potentially increase from 12.1 percent to at least 17.1 percent in early 2022—the highest monthly child poverty rate since December 2020. 

The Child Tax Credit reached 61.2 million children in December 2021, an increase of 2 million children over six months since the rollout to 59.3 million children in July. Increasing coverage increased its anti-poverty effects over time: the first payment kept 3 million children from poverty in July and the sixth Child Tax Credit payment kept 3.7 million children from poverty in December. On its own, the Child Tax Credit reduced monthly child poverty by close to 30 percent.

In prior work, we found the first Child Tax Credit payment kept 3 million children from poverty in July 2021; 3.5 million children from poverty in August 2021; 3.4 million children from poverty in September 2021; 3.6 million children from poverty in October 2021; and 3.8 million children from poverty in November 2021. Our research has also shown that the payments have reduced food insufficiency among low income families with children and that there is no evidence of negative employment effects. Our broader research roundup of what we know from the first six months of the expanded Child Tax Credit also revealed that the weight of the evidence is clear: monthly Child Tax Credit payments have buffered family finances amidst the continuing pandemic; increased families’ ability to purchase food and meet other basic needs; have reduced child poverty, food insufficiency, and other hardships among those who received it; and all without negative employment effects.


Measuring Monthly Poverty

In 2020, we established a novel method of forecasting poverty to provide monthly projections of poverty using the Supplemental Poverty Measure. Using a monthly framework, we are able to track poverty amidst changing economic circumstances as the COVID-19 pandemic and federal policy responses continue to unfold. Visit our data page to see monthly poverty trends for the US population as a whole, as well as by race/ethnicity and age groups.

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What we know from the first 6 months of the expanded Child Tax Credit