Multi-state survey on the Child Tax Credit

A survey conducted across eight states (Alaska, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Carolina, and Oklahoma) asked Trump voters their thoughts on the Child Tax Credit.

January 2022: Social Policy Institute: Expanded Child Tax Credit Payments Have Not Reduced Employment

Using U.S. Census Bureau House Pulse Survey data, researchers from the Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis find the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) has had not reduced employment and has spurred an entrepreneurial boom.

By observing employment rates among CTC recipients and non-recipients, as well as parents and non-parents, the analysis revealed that CTC recipients “tended to be employed at higher rates than non-recipients and that employment was stable for both groups.”

December 2021: Social Policy Institute: Expanded Child Tax Credit Supports Work and Promotes Small Business Formation

Using U.S. Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey data, researchers from Social Policy Institute at Washington University in St. Louis and Appalachian State University find the expanded Child Tax Credit (CTC) has not affected the labor rate and is increasing self-employment and small business formation.

Researchers tracked the employment status of parents and non-parents in the period before the expanded CTC payments were sent to parents and the period after the first two rounds of CTC payments were sent out. They tracked employment trends using data from the U.S. Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, a large, high-quality, nationally representative data source.

September 2021: Social Policy Institute: Nearly 94% of Parents Doing Same Amount of Paid Work or More Due to New Child Tax Credit

Data from Humanity Forward’s initial survey of Child Tax Credit recipients found that nearly 94% of parents planned to do the same amount of paid work or more as a result of receiving the expanded, monthly CTC.

Only 6.4% of parents expressed that they would use the credit to either work less or change jobs. Among those parents, parents of infants or toddlers were almost twice as likely to be able to work less as a result of the credit.

The expanded credit is providing families greater freedom in making their own work and child-care decisions, thus empowering parents to choose what’s best for their families. Additional data is already tracking the correlation between the CTC and a mass return to work, as seen in the July jobs report.

Child Tax Credit: Promoting Work, Responsibility, and Economic Growth

To understand how families were responding to the Child Tax Credit (CTC), Humanity Forward partnered with a team of researchers from Washington University in St. Louis, Appalachian State University, University of North Carolina, Greensboro, and the Urban Institute to survey a nationally representative group of 1,514 American parents eligible for the credit.

The researchers utilized a probability-based online panel survey, which was administered between July 8- July 13, 2021 — immediately before the first CTC payments were delivered. The sample was limited to those with household incomes below $150,000, as the credit begins to phase out at this level for married couple families.

In this summary report, we highlight key findings from the first wave of the study, focusing specifically on how families plan to use CTC payments and their early perceptions of the expanded credit. The full report, examining the impacts of the CTC on families relative to a comparison group of households that are ineligible for the CTC, is forthcoming in early 2022.

About The Child Tax Credit (CTC)

The 2021 temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit provides families with $3,800 for every child in the household under the age of six and $3,000 for every child between the ages of six and 17. This is both unprecedented in its reach and its efficacy. The CTC is predicted to cut American child poverty by more than half.

Almost all middle – and low-income families with children are eligible for the CTC.

Married parents making less than $150,000 and single parents making less than $112,500 per year will receive the full amount of the credit, which begins to phase out slowly after these income cut-offs.

Read more on this study at Washington University in St. Louis’ Social Policy Institute.