WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, millions of American parents will receive the sixth monthly installment of child tax credit payments, providing $250 per child under 18 and $300 per child under six for eligible families. This December payment represents the final monthly payment of the expanded CTC before the policy’s sunset in December, unless Congress acts to extend it.

In response, Liam deClive-Lowe, Executive Director of Humanity Forward, issued the following statement:

“Families all across the nation are beginning to receive their final monthly child tax credit payment today. This payment, unlike the others, has an air of uncertainty looming over it for millions of families who don’t know if they can expect more support this time next month.

The Internal Revenue Service says that if an extension is signed into law by December 28, they can still send a January payment on time. The ticking clock for Congress has passed the eleventh hour. 

Here is what we’ve been able to learn over the past six months about the monthly child tax credit: it has been a critical tool for incentivizing parents to get back to work and contribute to our economy. It has reduced food insufficiency by 24% in receiving households. It has lifted 3.6 million American children from poverty according to Columbia University’s last estimate, and it saves the American taxpayer seven dollars for every dollar spent in reducing the adverse effects of child poverty.

The stories we’ve heard from parents over the last few months demonstrate how these payments have made a dramatic impact in so many families’ lives. Some parents have stopped worrying about paying for their weekly grocery trip, or paying their rent on time. Others now have the ability to build an emergency savings account for the first time.

If this program permanently ends in December, it will be devastating for the progress we have made to grow our workforce, eliminate child poverty, and rebuild our economy. Millions of parents and children will be left adrift without a lifeboat as costs continue to rise. We’re working with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to support a common-sense extension to this program, which has already made transformational change in the lives of so many American families.”

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Humanity Forward is a 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization dedicated to finding bipartisan solutions to advance the economic interests of the American people through federal policy. Uniquely positioned as one of America’s fastest growing, altruistic advocacy organizations, our mission is to advance evidence-based policies designed to strengthen families, generate economic growth, and end poverty.