The American Rescue Plan’s Child Tax Credit Expansion Provides Thousands of Dollars of Relief For Families Across Upstate New York for 2021 – More Than An Estimated $7 Billion Directly To Thousands Of Families
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer heralded the Child Tax Credit expansion which will allow payments of up to $300 per child to automatically go out to families across New York each month. Schumer said the plan will impact over 86% of New York children.
“Help is here for working families across New York in the form of enhanced Child Tax Credits that put more money in families’ pockets to recover from COVID even as its boosts New York’s economy,” said Senator Schumer. “Over 86% of families throughout New York will benefit from the enhanced Child Tax Credit just as they begin to fully recover from the global health and economic pandemic that rocked our country for the past year. That is why I made sure this relief bill included help for New York families, because this significant expansion of the Child Tax Credit will cut the nation’s child poverty rate in half and bring necessary relief. The credit expansion – on top of the $1,400 direct checks that came earlier this year – will provide New York’s families with thousands of dollars of relief, directly in their pockets. Getting additional federal dollars into the hands of struggling families not only makes sense, but it’s what’s needed to help the New York recover from the pandemic.”
Schumer explained the Child Tax Credit (CTC), one of the most powerful and effective anti-poverty tools the federal government has, was significantly expanded for American households in the American Rescue Plan. This tax credit expansion will deliver an estimated $7.03 billion in additional economic relief to families with children across New York and have a major impact on working families.
The total amount of Expanded Child Tax Credit headed to each region in New York State can be found below:
REGION | TOTAL EXPANDED CTC |
Southern Tier | $264,503,932 |
Capital Region | $502,125,581 |
Central | $471,279,544 |
Hudson Valley | $847,414,412 |
Long Island | $1,028,580,062 |
NYC | $2,997,872,107 |
Finger Lakes | $435,560,223 |
Western | $482,651,024 |
TOTAL: | $7,029,986,887 |
Schumer highlighted that researchers have estimated that the American Rescue Plan – including the expanded Child Tax Credit – will cut the child poverty rate in half nationally. Specifically, the relief bill increases the Child Tax Credit amount from $2,000 to $3,000 per child age 6 to 17 (and $3,600 per child below the age of 6) for 2021.
Additionally, the bill makes the CTC fully refundable and removes the $2,500 earnings floor to receive the credit for 2021, ensuring that the lowest income households will be able to benefit from the maximum credit amount for the year. This change importantly corrected flaws in the credit that prevented around 27 million children nationwide whose families have little or no income from receiving the full benefit – and in New York State alone, this credit expansion will benefit 1,546,000 of these children who were previously left out of the full Child Tax Credit.
The increased $3,000 or $3,600 CTC is available to families making less than $150,000, and it phases down above that income level, so households over $150,000 will see a reduced credit. This boosted credit amount is particularly impactful in lower-income households, as it has been found that increasing a low-income child’s family income early in their life has numerous, critical longer-term benefits on education, health, and even employment. Specifically, it is estimated that a $3,000 increase in annual family income for children under age five translates into an estimated 19 percent earnings increase in adulthood.
According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an estimated 3,564,000 children across New York will benefit from this expanded tax credit – including 583,000 Black, 954,000 Latino, and 266,000 Asian American children. It will also lift 680,000 children in the state above or closer to the poverty line.
