The Child Tax Credit: Where We Are, Where Families Think We Should Go

This Child Tax Credit (CTC) provides economic relief to millions of families, helping parents and caregivers meet the rising costs of raising children. But it could do much more to reduce poverty and promote economic security and well-being, as we saw in 2021 when the CTC was temporarily expanded as part of a larger package of supports during the pandemic.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA), signed into law on July 4, 2025, moves us in the wrong direction—though it increases the maximum CTC from $2,000 to $2,200, it takes the CTC away entirely from many children and families who need the support the most and fails to provide any additional support to millions more families whose incomes are too low to receive the full credit but who struggle with the everyday costs of raising children.

This brief analyzes the changes to the CTC under the OBBBA, offering a primer on the structure of the CTC under prior law, how the OBBBA exacerbates structural flaws in the CTC, and how the OBBBA diverges from what parents and caregivers want and need from the CTC so their families can be economically secure.

(5 pp)