As Christmas approaches, not everyone is celebrating. American families — hit hard by inflation, wage stagnation and layoffs — must confront another challenge: an expired child tax credit.
The program, which provides cash handouts to parents and is vociferously backed by President Joe Biden, has been hailed as instrumental in reducing child poverty. But renewing the child tax credit has proved challenging. Now, with a few weeks remaining before a new Congress takes office, advocates of the child tax credit are pushing for a renewal in an end-of-year tax package.
The political pain point comes down to work. Republicans want parental toil in exchange for government cash. Democrats, not so much. Republicans say labor force participation is a reasonable ask. Democrats aren’t convinced, instead viewing the credit as more of an entitlement program, one that should be extended to all Americans, regardless of their employment status.
