Bennet, Brown, Booker, DeLauro, DelBene, Torres Statement on Extending the Expanded Child Tax Credit Before Year End

Washington, D.C. – Today, as new data from the Census Bureau showed that child poverty dropped to a record low in 2021 in large part as a result of the expanded Child Tax Credit, U.S. Senators Michael Bennet (D-Colo.), Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), and Cory Booker (D-N.J.), alongside U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), released the following statement:

“Today’s Census data confirms that the expanded Child Tax Credit worked: it allowed the hard work of tens of millions of parents to pay off and helped them keep up with the cost of living, dramatically reducing child poverty and hunger. We should have never allowed this critical program to lapse, and we should not extend corporate tax breaks at the end of this year without also extending the expanded Child Tax Credit.”

Today, the Census Bureau released new data demonstrating the profound impact the expanded Child Tax Credit had, enabling families to keep up with the cost of living and fighting poverty, hunger, and homelessness last year. New data reveals that:

·         The child poverty rate fell from 9.7 percent to 5.2 percent between 2020 and 2021, a 46 percent decline in a single year. The child poverty rate is now the lowest on record.

·         Without the American Rescue Plan’s CTC expansion, child poverty would have been 8.1% and more than 2 million additional children would have been in poverty.

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