Today we're digging into the Expanded Child Tax Credit as part of our listener picks

series.

The idea for today's show comes from Brian on Facebook.

Brian wrote,

How does the low quality of life for the poorest Americans affect the rest of us?

And what are the solutions that really work to raise everyone up?

One of those solutions is top of mind for a lot of parents.

The end of the Expanded Child Tax Credit.

That means starting this month, over 35 million families will go without the federal payments

that help them pay for rent, food, and childcare.

The Expanded Child Tax Credit was part of President Biden's Build Back Better Act.

Its failure to pass means an end to the monthly checks that families received since July

of last year.

Those checks ran as much as $300 per child per month.

According to researchers at Columbia University, the Child Tax Credit kept almost 4 million

kids out of poverty in November, and researchers at the Urban Institute believe that keeping

the monthly payments would lead to a 40% decrease in childhood poverty overall.

After the break, we'll dig into the Expanded Child Tax Credit and how it could be the

key to ending childhood poverty for millions of Americans.

I'm Jen White.

This is the 1A podcast where we get to the heart of the story.

Remember to join future conversations, download our 1A Vox Pop app and leave us a voice

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