Children Left Behind by the Child Tax Credit in 2023
In 2021, the child poverty rate fell to a historic low of 5.2%, in part driven by the American Rescue Plan’s substantial expansion to the federal Child Tax Credit. Key to this was the inclusion of children in families with low and moderate incomes formerly left behind. By “left behind,” we refer to children whose family incomes are too low to qualify for the full Child Tax Credit of $2,000 per child. We previously documented that, prior to 2021, approximately one in three children nationwide were left behind. Those left behind were disproportionately children of color, young children, and children in single parent families, larger families, rural areas, and more. Because the 2021 expansion was temporary, children historically excluded from the full Child Tax Credit were left behind once again, with 18 million children – 26% of children under age 17 – left out again the next year in 2022.
This analysis provides updated estimates of the share of children ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit in 2023, overall and by income, race/ethnicity, family type, and metro/rural area residence. We find one in four children in the United States were ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit in 2023 – representing approximately 17 million children in total and almost 90% of children in poverty. We also discuss how the Child Tax Credit’s earning’s requirement and partial refundability structure leaves the full credit out of reach for families with low and moderate incomes.
Key Findings
In 2023, one in four children (25%) under age 17 (representing 17 million children) were ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit because their family income was too low to qualify. Just 5% of children were ineligible for the full credit because their family income was too high.
There was substantial inequity in full credit eligibility across population subgroups: 39% of Black children, 36% of Latino children, 56% of children living with a female single parent, 33% of children in large families, and 30% of rural children were ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit because their family income was too low.
87% of children living below the poverty line and 32% of those living between 100% and 200% of the poverty line were ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit.
Suggested Citation
Collyer, Sophie, Megan Curran, and David Harris. 2024. Children left behind by the Child Tax Credit in 2023. Poverty and Social Policy Brief, vol. 8, no. 5. New York: Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University.