The Child Tax Credit is Keeping Families Afloat

Making it permanent could set families on a path to long-term economic mobility

While families have received only two disbursements of the Child Tax Credit, SaverLife members are quickly finding the payments impactful in covering day-to-day expenses. 

While the summer of 2021 was supposed to signal a return to normalcy, the rise of continued uncertainty with the Delta variant has continued to disrupt the lives of SaverLife members. SaverLife parents are heading into yet another atypical school year, weighed down by concerns with childcare, school closures, and safety concerns with the new delta-variant causing rising COVID-19 cases among children. Unemployment is up, spending on necessities is up, as is inflation. Many states have ended extra unemployment benefits, federal benefits ended on Sept 6 and the Supreme Court ended federal eviction protection. It’s a difficult time to be a SaverLife member.   

Then came the monthly Child Tax Credit, like a knight in shining armor. While not a huge influx of cash, the Child Tax Credit is keeping members afloat. SaverLife members overwhelmingly reported that they are using this extra money to help make ends meet.

89% of parents said they know the expanded Child Tax Credit is temporary

69% of members agree that knowing the expanded CTC is temporary impacts how they plan to use the money

However, the majority of members know that these payments aren’t permanent. The knowledge that the payments are temporary has influenced how they plan to spend them.

When we asked members what they would do with the CTC disbursements if they were made permanent, they were much more likely to indicate that they would make long term changes that could dramatically impact their family’s economic mobility and financial security. Creating long-term financial security would position all families to weather whatever storms might come in 2022 and beyond.