Low-Income Families with Children and The Reconciliation Debate

This series analyzes how tax and benefit policy debates surrounding Congress’s emerging reconciliation bill affect low-income families with children. In today’s polarized political environment, unilateral changes made via party-line reconciliation procedures may become the primary way large-scale policy changes are enacted. Decisions made in the next few months could last decades.

Rather than assessing the reconciliation package as a whole, this series focuses on the specific policies and debates that matter most for children in low-income households. Reforms to the Child Tax Credit are a central component of the debate. Key questions remain unsettled: Should the credit be expanded? If so, will the benefits reach low-income families? There have been some signs of support for expanding the CTC for lower-income families, but other indicators have been less favorable. Additional provisions also warrant attention. Will proposals around no tax on tips, car interest, overtime, and social security help low-income families? And will any increases to tax benefits be offset by cuts to other safety net supports? This series offers a close examination of how key debates and evolving provisions in the reconciliation bill could either alleviate or deepen poverty among children in low-income households.