A proposed child tax credit would give $6,000 to parents with newborn children, possibly saving millions of children in poverty in the United States.
During the most recent presidential debate, Vice President and Democratic nominee Kamala Harris proposed an economic policy to expand child tax credits to up to $6,000 for young families with a newborn child under age 1.
How Will the Child Tax Credit Work?
The government will provide the tax credits in the newborn's first year. For example, a family that welcomed a newborn in 2025 would receive the tax credit for the same tax year.
"That is a vital, vital year of critical development of a child," Harris said. "And the cost can really add up, especially for young parents who need to buy diapers and clothes and a car seat and so much else."
Harris did not give any further details about the proposal.
How Many Children Fell Into Poverty in 2023?
If passed, Harris' child tax credit proposal could lift millions of children in the US out of poverty.
The child poverty rate fell to 5.2% in 2021 due to the expansions to the federal Child Tax Credit under the 2021 American Rescue Plan, which provided up to $3,600 per child under age 6. It also provided eligible families $3,000 for each child ages 6 to 17. That marked a historic low in child poverty in the US.
However, the child poverty rate rose to 12.4% in 2022 after the Biden administration's expanded child tax credit expired in December 2021.
This increased again in 2023, with 979,000 additional children falling into poverty. By percentage, child poverty in 2023 increased to 13.7%. This brought the total number of children aged under 18 in poverty last year to 9,962,000, per the Census Bureau.
Currently, the child tax credit would revert back to levels prior to the 2021 expansion, dropping to $1,000 per child in 2025.
In August, the Senate rejected a measure to expand the 2021 child tax credit, with only 48 voting in favor of the bill. The legislation needed 60 votes to advance.
