As food, gas, and heating costs surge to record-inflation levels across the country because of the pandemic families in the area are hit with another financial challenge.
The Child Tax Credit payments enjoyed last year have expired, taking away thousands of dollars that would have helped many families with food and necessities. Congress didn’t renew the tax credit which, was part of President Biden’s Build Back Better plan in December. Democratic Sen. Joe Manchin from West Virginia objected to extending the tax credit and said the money would discourage some people from working and that any additional federal funds would fuel inflation.
Pamela Kokanes of Joliet said her family is out $750 per month as her three children are no longer receiving the monthly payment.
The tax credit was provided for about 35 million families during the pandemic as part of the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package. The payments ranged from $250 for children between the ages of 6 and 17 to $300 for children 5 and younger. The money started going out to families in July 2021 as the expanded program broadened the number of families who were eligible. The last payments were sent out to eligible families on Dec. 15.
“This is really hurting us,” she said. “My husband and I have had our work hours reduced and we just do not know how we are going to meet our bills. This money at least went toward food.”
Marisha Nichols of Crest Hill said the timing could not be worse for the payments to stop.
“I went out to buy hamburger meat last week and it was so expensive,” said the mother of four. “I am cutting my grocery list every week, but we need the necessities. People are really hurting out here.”
According to the White House, studies have shown that the monthly payments have helped significantly reduce child poverty and child hunger across the country. The White House said the program would have had the potential to cut child poverty in half. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that more than 21 million Americans didn’t have enough to eat in early December, which was a five-month high.
Additionally, Catholic agencies and anti-poverty advocates are calling on the Senate to enact the bill, saying the enhanced child tax credit strengthens families and reduces poverty. A letter from the chairmen of five U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ committees to members of Congress specifically cited that the long-range future of the country is “intimately linked to the well-being of families” in urging that the enhanced credit be made permanent.
“The credit is meant to address child poverty. That is something that Catholic social teaching is behind. The child tax credit is one of the most effective tools that we have to address child poverty,” Julie Bodnar, domestic policy adviser in the Catholic Charites’ Office of Domestic Social Development.
Granado said the expanded child tax credit has been “essential for families who lost jobs, for low-income families, for people who don’t get to work from their laptops (at home), working-class people who cannot afford childcare.”
Catholic Charities office located Joliet serves people in DuPage, Grundy, Kankakee, Kendall, Will, Ford and Iroquois counties by providing community services, counseling, and senior programs. Madhu@thetimesweekly.com