Harder to Pay the Bills Now That Child Tax Credit Payments Have Ended

Households with children that struggled to cover household expenses were at least twice as likely to rely on CTC. Learn more in this story.

America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers Harder to Pay the Bills Now That Child Tax Credit Payments Have Ended More households with children had difficulty paying for usual household expenses after Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments ended in December, according to new Household Pulse Survey (HPS) results. The U.S. Census Bureau's HPS previously showed that reports of hardship among households with children decreased when CTC payments began in July 2021. Read More The Internal Revenue Service issued a monthly advance CTC payment to households with children from July to December 2021. More than 36 million families received the last monthly payment of up to $300 for each child ages 5 and under and up to $250 for each child ages 6 to 17. The experimental HPS collected data during the second half of 2021 (August through December) while advance CTC payments were issued and in early 2022, after the payments stopped. Continue reading to learn more about: Families feeling the pain of losing CTC payments Covering household expenses How CTC payments were spent About HPS Help us spread the word about America Counts. Share this story on social media or forward it to a friend. Share This You May Be Interested Economic Hardship Declined in Households With Children as Child Tax Credit Payments Arrived: Household Pulse Survey collected responses just before and just after the arrival of the first CTC checks. Learn More About America Counts America Counts tells the stories behind the numbers in a new inviting way. It features stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, economy, emergency management, health, population, income and poverty. Contact our Public Information Office for media inquiries or interviews. Don't miss an America Counts story! Subscribe here.

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