Expanded Child Tax Credit continues to keep millions of children from poverty in September
The third monthly payment of the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) kept 3.4 million children from poverty in September 2021. The monthly child poverty rate increased between August and September, from 11.5 percent to 13.2 percent, due to the expiration of expanded unemployment benefits across the country and the rollback of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) emergency allotment benefits in some states. However, the Child Tax Credit contributed to a 4.6 percentage point (26 percent) reduction in child poverty compared to what the monthly poverty rate in September would have been in its absence. Estimates are also available by children’s race and ethnicity.
In prior work, we found the first Child Tax Credit payment kept 3 million children from poverty in July 2021 and the second payment kept 3.5 million children from poverty in August 2021 and that the payments reduced food insufficiency among low income families with children. The US Department of Treasury reported that the first Child Tax Credit payment reached 59.3 million children in July, the second payment reached 60.9 million children in August, and the third payment reached 60 million children in September.
Measuring Monthly Poverty
In 2020, we established a novel method to estimate monthly Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) poverty rates. Using a monthly framework, we are able to track poverty amidst changing economic circumstances, for example as the COVID-19 pandemic and federal policy responses to it evolved. Visit our data page to see monthly poverty information for the US population as a whole, as well as by race/ethnicity and age groups.
Suggested Citation
Center on Poverty and Social Policy, Columbia University. 2021. Expanded Child Tax Credit continues to keep millions of children from poverty in September. Monthly Poverty Update, CPSP News Blog.