Cash payment policies on the national and state levels play an outsized role in improving the lives of women and families. Mothers normally bear the brunt of additional child caretaking responsibilities – which were exacerbated by the pandemic – but the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit minimizes financial stress. Here’s what direct cash payments can mean for moms:

• When in place, the federal CTC supported over 61 million children in 39 million families across the country. Moms specifically used the monthly payments to pay for childcare, food, clothing and other basic needs, which is crucial given that the gap in childcare options, specifically, is one of the single biggest obstacles when participating in our economy.
• Studies from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) and Urban Institute and Humanity Forward showed that the CTC helps moms – especially single mothers – get back to work by alleviating the costs of childcare and transportation.
• 70% of survey respondents of a national study who were recipients of the expanded federal CTC said that the program helped reduce their financial stress, especially for women of color.
• Child Tax Credits are also politically popular. Stan Greenberg and Celinda Lake, two of the country’s top pollsters, conducted research showing that working-class women saw the expanded CTC as the most important policy from President Biden, who included restoring the program in his 2023 annual budget proposal.
• The Treasury Department estimates that over 97 percent of families that received the expanded Child Tax Credit were working families with wages or self-employment income. And for the families that don’t have income, many of those are grandmothers taking care of children or people with serious disabilities and health issues.

Bottom Line: Women don’t just have a lot to gain from state and federal Child Tax Credits – they deserve them. If you’re interested in learning more about how to advocate for these policies in your state, visit: www.economicsecurityproject.org/