Not Humiliating Poor People – An Advantage Of The Government’s New Payments For Families
The US$1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package President Joe Biden signed in March 2021 will expand the child tax credit for one year. Instead of providing families with up to $2,000 per child under 17, the government will distribute a total of $3,600 for each child under 6 and $3,000 for kids under 18.
Some economists predict that these payments, which will go to all but the wealthiest parents in two ways – monthly starting in July 2021 and as a lump sum when parents file their taxes in 2022 – could cut U.S. child poverty by nearly 50%. Today, about 1 in 7 U.S. children live below the official poverty line.
I’m a law professor who researches the often-humiliating and punitive hurdles that poor families face when they apply for some government benefits. From my perspective, this new appr...