How are families in the U.S. using their Child Tax Credit payments? A 50 state analysis

The temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) is projected to cut American child poverty by more than half. The CTC expansion provides families with $3,600 for every child in the household under the age of six and $3,000 for every child between the ages of six and 17. The vast majority of U.S. families with children are eligible for the CTC.

In this briefs, we use data from the Census Household Pulse survey to examine how a representative sample of CTC-eligible families making less than $150,000 a year report using their payments. This survey was administered between July 21st and August 16th, covering the period in which the first two CTC payments were deposited in families’ bank account. These fact sheets include key data on CTC receipt, payment usage, and changes in families’ food security after the payments went out by state.

This combined report contains a national overview, 50 state fact sheets, in addition to Washington D.C. You can access these fact sheets separately here.

If you have questions about the study you can email us at socialpolicyinstitute@wustl.edu.

Note: Puerto Rico and other U.S. territories are not included because while they are eligible for the expanded CTC, there is no provision for them to file for or receive advance payments. Additionally, the territories are not included in the Household Pulse Surveys, so updated data about household impacts are not available for analysis.