Studies show that gains against child hunger were lost after the Child Tax Credit ended

REISSUE CONDITIONS

You may republish this article online or in print under our Creative Commons license. You may not edit or shorten the text, you must attribute the article to The Pulse, and you must include the author’s name in your repost.

If you have any questions, please email [email protected]

Studies show that gains against child hunger were lost after the Child Tax Credit ended<div id="attachment_144516" style="width: 576px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img aria-describedby="caption-attachment-144516" class=" wp-image-144516" src="http://pulse.ncpolicywatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Food-bank-GettyImages-687913260.jpg" alt="" width="566" height="377"><p id="caption-attachment-144516" class="wp-caption-text">Feeding America and the Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank host the Hungry to Help Lesson Plan for elementary school students in Ohio. (Photo by Duane Prokop/Getty Images for Feeding America)</p></div>An article in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October confirmed previous research that food insecurity increased significantly after the federal monthly advanced child <a class="wpil_keyword_link " href="/irs-tax-extension-deadline-october-15-what-to-know-about-filing-your-2020-tax-return/" title="tax credits" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">tax credits</a> expired on January 15, 2022. The study found examined the period between January and July of this year. in a series of national surveys, and found an almost 25% increase in food insufficiency, affecting black, Hispanic and Indigenous families the most. The article published October 21 in JAMA, “<a href="https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2797549?utm_source=For_The_Media&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=ftm_links&utm_term=102122" target=" _blank" rel="noopener">Association of the expiration of child tax credit advance payments with food insufficiency in US households</a> involved a cross-sectional study of repeated surveys of a nationally representative sample of 592,044 US households. “The results of this study suggest that loss of monthly payments (child tax credit) was associated with an increased prevalence of households with children in the United States reporting sometimes or often not having enough to eat, a condition associated with adverse health effects across the lifespan,” conclude the paper’s findings. administered to more than 35 million households with children in the United States between July and December 2021. Figures from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities <a href="https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/american-rescue-plan-act-includes-critical-expansions-of-child-tax-credit-and">show that the credits benefited approximately 2.37 million children in Ohio</a>. [In North Carolina, the number was nearly 2.1 million.] Tax credits were associated with a substantial decrease in food insufficiency, according to the study. Under ARPA, three major changes to the credit have been enacted for the 2021 tax year: an expansion of eligibility to include families with very low or no income; an increase in credit amounts from a maximum credit of $2,000 per child per year previously to $3,000 per child 6-17 per year and $3,600 per child under 6 per year; and provision for half the credit as an advanced monthly <a class="wpil_keyword_link " href="/let-buyers-checkout-with-amazon-pay/" title="payment" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">payment</a> between July and December 2021. As a result of these changes, approximately 92% of families with children were eligible to receive $250 to $300 per month per child between July and December 2021. December 2021, the study says. National data shows that parents report spending monthly CTC payments on food, utilities, rent, clothing and education costs, according to the article. These monthly payments expired in January 2022 after the US Congress failed to extend the policy.<span id="more-144514"></span> During a series of surveys by researchers, just before the CTC expired, the unadjusted household food gap was 12.7. % among households with children. In late January and early February 2022, following the first missed monthly CTC payment, 13.6% of households with children reported food insufficiency, rising to 16% in late June and early July 2022.” Given the well-documented associations between disability and poor health outcomes across the lifespan, Congress should consider prompt action to reinstate this policy,” the JAMA article recommended. nonpartisan national research from the Brookings Institution and published in April 2022 in a report titled “ <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/04%20/Child-Tax-Credit-Report-Final_Updated.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The impacts of the 2021 child tax credit expansion on family employment, nutrition, and financial well-being.</a> Brookings researchers said the temporary tax credit expansion “has unprecedented reach” and lifted 3.7 million children out of poverty by December 2021. CTC significantly improved food security and healthy eating among eligible people,” Brookings found. Moreover, according to this study, about 70% of CTC recipients who were negatively affected by inflation said that the payments helped them better manage rising prices. Besides increasing food security, other areas Brookings said tax credits help families include statistically significant declines in credit card debt compared to those who were not eligible; reducing reliance on expensive financial services such as <a class="wpil_keyword_link " href="/multiple-payday-loans-are-widespread-payday-loans/" title="payday loans" data-wpil-keyword-link="linked">payday loans</a> and pawnbrokers, as well as reducing blood plasma sales rates; increased capacity to manage emergency expenses and strengthened family emergency funds; and a significant drop in evictions. Brookings also found that credit enabled families of color to make significant investments in their children’s long-term educational outcomes. Black, Hispanic and non-white households were more likely to use the credit for child care and education expenses, Brookings found. <em>David DeWitt is the editor of the Ohio Capital Journal, which <a href="https://ohiocapitaljournal.com/2022/11/15/studies-show-gains-against-childhood-hunger-were-lost-%20after-child-tax-credit-ended/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">first published</a> this report. </em>