Families are in distress after the first month without the expanded child tax credit
January is the first month since July 2021 that more than 36 million families in the U.S. did not receive money from the expanded child tax credit program. For some, the consequences are already dire.
Had Congress renewed the expanded child tax credit at the end of last year, Jen Cousins would have received $1,000 from the government on Jan. 14.
She would have used the money to fix the brakes on her family's only vehicle, a minivan. She would have taken her four kids to the eye doctor because they all need new glasses. Some of the money would have gone toward saving for fixing the roof of their house in Orlando, Fla.
But in December, Congress left Washington for winter recess without passing President Biden's Build Back Better agenda, which included an extension of the expanded child tax credit, or CTC.
The program, which began in July 2021, included an that ranged from $250 to $300 per child.
