skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Calls to Shore Up Child Tax Credit Long-Term in Build Back Better Act

play audio
Play

Wednesday, November 3, 2021   

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. - Families in Missouri have been receiving Child Tax Credit payments of $300 to $350 a month per child since the summer, and one local expert says making them permanent could benefit families long-term, across the nation.

So far, 45% of Missouri families have reported using their payments for food, 33% for essential bills and 30% on other household expenditures.

Researcher Stephen Roll, an assistant professor of research at Washington University in St. Louis, said the pandemic tightened many families' budgets, but he noted they were struggling even before the COVID crisis as expenses increased.

"Even before everyone was paying attention to all these economic crises, things were not good for poor parents, for middle-class parents," he said. "And the Child Tax Credit is one way of solving that issue, by providing some fundamental, unconditional support for these parents."

The American Rescue Plan, passed in March, expanded the Child Tax Credit and provided for advance payments for 2021. The Biden administration's Build Back Better framework includes funding for the credit through 2022.

When families are at risk of eviction or utility shutoffs, Roll said, it can't help but affect children's everyday lives. He said it can hurt their ability to do well in school, and that research shows childhood poverty can limit future educational and work opportunities, as well as long-term health outcomes. He said he thinks the CTC is one measure that can help provide more stability for families.

"So, what we're seeing right now," he said, "is actually, these sort of early-term improvements - like improvements in nutrition, improvements in economic stability - that we strongly suspect will continue to pay dividends over the next few decades."

Surveys from the U.S. Census Bureau reveal that rates of families facing food insecurity and trouble paying household expenses dropped as soon as CTC payments went out in July. Nearly 10% of those receiving the payments, and more than 17% of those with a child younger than age 5 reported using it to help pay for child care.


get more stories like this via email
more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021