Child Tax Credit: Key Findings from July 2022 National Survey
By Ashley Burnside, Bruce Fuller, and Qifan Zhang
A recent survey of low- to moderate-income (under $75,000) parents in the continental U.S. following the end of the monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments showed that parents are hurting financially and have faced increased difficulty paying for food and monthly bills now that monthly payments have ended. The CTC reached a wide scope of families, especially among Hispanic parents, who had reported lower uptake in prior surveys relative to white and Black parents. These topline findings demonstrate to lawmakers the importance of extending a fully refundable, expanded CTC.
Additionally, a separate survey of parents in Puerto Rico about the CTC illuminated families’ high awareness of the CTC amid changing eligibility rules, showed that the CTC is reaching a majority of families, and found that Puerto Rican parents are largely spending their CTC refunds on necessities, including bills and food/groceries, and school supplies.
CLASP collaborated with IPSOS to conduct these surveys, in partnership with University of California, Berkeley, the Center for the Study of Social Policy, the Children’s Defense Fund, ideas42, the National Women’s Law Center, Prosperity Now, UnidosUS, and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Prior findings from the national Child Tax Credit survey conducted in July 2021 can be found here, and findings from our October 2021 survey appear here.
Download Continental U.S. Findings