Creator resource: To improve parents’ mental health, give families with kids a tax credit
The Center for Health Communication works to create toolkits and briefings that help content creators spread evidence-based health information on social media. The information provided is meant to be educational and is not a substitute for medical advice. This page was last updated on 11/22/24.
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chc@hsph.harvard.edu
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Key statistics
- 36 million US families received the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit
- 5.3 million people lifted out of poverty by the 2021 Child Tax Credit
- 25% greater food insufficiency without the Child Tax Credit for families
- 13% decrease in anxiety symptoms for expanded Child Tax Cred receipients
Understand the research
Expanding the Child Tax Credit in 2021 improved adult mental health
- Living in poverty is detrimental to parents’ mental health—and to their kids’ mental health, too.
- In response to financial hardship during the COVID-19 pandemic, the US Congress temporarily expanded the Child Tax Credit to as much as $3,600 per child from July – December 2021 (up from $2000 per child). The expansion also allowed families to receive the CTC through automatic monthly payments rather than in one lump sum after taxes had been filed.
- Using data from the Census Bureau’s Household Pulse Survey, researchers looked at how the expansion of this federal program affected the mental health of low-income adults with children.
- They found that people reported fewer symptoms of anxiety and depression after receiving assistance.
- Anxiety symptoms in particular were reduced by 13.3% from baseline.
- The mental health benefits were largest among adults of Black, Hispanic, and other (non-Asian) racial and ethnic minority backgrounds. It didn’t take long for the mental health boost to show up: Anxiety symptoms decreased within a month after the monthly Child Tax Credit payments began. Depressive symptoms were reduced a few months later.
Content resources:
- Hamad et. al. Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Adult Mental Health: A Quasi-Experimental Study Health Affairs, 2023Audience Call to Action:
Audience Call to Action:
- Tell your federal representatives about the evidence that expanding the Child Tax Credit protects parents’ mental health
Hashtags:
- #CTCAwareness, #ChildTaxCredit, #CTC #HSPHCreatorsSummit