How Parents Use the Child Tax Credit, and Implications of Ended Monthly Payments
Key Findings, July 2022 Continental U.S. Survey
By Ashley Burnside, Bruce Fuller, and Qifan Zhang
September 12, 2022
A recent survey of low- to moderate-income (under $75,000) parents following the end of the monthly
Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments showed that parents are hurting financially and have faced increased
difficulty paying for food and monthly bills now that monthly payments have ended. The CTC reached a
wide scope of families, especially among Hispanic parents, who had reported lower uptake in prior
surveys relative to white and Black parents. These topline findings demonstrate to lawmakers the
importance of extending a fully refundable, expanded CTC.
Additional survey findings focused on families in Puerto Rico can be found here.
Below are the topline findings from the CTC continental survey:
• The CTC reached a wide margin of families, with increasing participation by Hispanic parents.
Nearly 4 in 5 eligible parents (78 percent) filed for the CTC, either by filing a tax return or using
an online tool. The take-up rate among Hispanic parents jumped from 64 percent, reported in
our October 2021 survey, to 75 percent in July 2022. These findings suggest CTC outreach was
successful in raising awareness among the Hispanic community.
• White parents continue to display the highest take-up rate of the CTC. While the CTC reduced
child poverty in 2021, particularly among Black and Latino children, white families most
consistently claim the CTC. Eighty-two percent of all white respondents, compared with 75
percent of Hispanic parents and 80 percent of Black parents, claimed the CTC either through
filing a tax return or using an online portal.
• Among families that claimed the CTC, a large majority received monthly CTC payments in
2021. Nearly 9 in 10 (88 percent) respondents who claimed the CTC reported receiving monthly
CTC payments between July and December 2021. Receipt of monthly payments was constant
across racial groups, with 89 percent of Black and Hispanic respondents who claimed the CTC
receiving the monthly payments compared to 86 percent of white respondents. When asked
why parents didn’t get the monthly payments, parents commonly responded that they were
intentionally opting out of the payments or that they were confused about why they were not
receiving them.
• The expiration of monthly CTC payments left parents reporting more difficulty in affording
food and monthly bills. Sixty percent of parents who previously received the monthly payments
stated it has been more difficult for their family to meet their expenses since the payments
stopped. Among these parents, about two-thirds said they had trouble covering basic expenses,
including food and groceries (66 percent) and paying the bills (65 percent). Other expenses that
have been hard for parents to meet since the monthly payments ended include buying clothing
and shoes (49 percent) and paying rent or mortgage (40 percent). Hispanic respondents,
disabled respondents, parents who have never been married, and respondents with lower
incomes were more likely to report difficulty meeting monthly expenses.
• The end of the monthly CTC payments led to food hardship for parents, especially for those
with low incomes, those attaining less than a bachelor’s degree, and Hispanic parents. Many
respondents who had received monthly payments reported an increased difficulty affording
more or higher quality foods, along with visiting food banks or pantries more frequently now
that monthly payments had stopped. Fifty percent of Hispanic respondents reported being
unable to buy quality food and/or visiting a food bank more frequently, compared to 39 percent
of white respondents and 34 percent of Black respondents. Over half of respondents earning
under $25,000 reported hardship.
• The end of the monthly CTC payments resulted in other hardships for parents. Respondents
who received monthly payments in 2021 reported facing increased financial stress since the end
of the monthly payments, and a reduced ability to buy toys, gifts, and desired activities for their
children. These hardships could hurt children’s social and educational outcomes, parents’ health
outcomes, and the economy.
• Respondents’ experiences with the CTC make them feel like the government cares about their
family’s health and wellbeing, especially among Hispanic and Black respondents. Hispanic
respondents were more likely to report that their experiences receiving the CTC make them feel
like the government cares about their family’s health and wellbeing. Nearly three-quarters (74
percent) of Hispanic respondents who received monthly payments reported this sentiment,
compared to 6 in 10 Black respondents and less than half (40 percent) of white respondents.
Only 9 percent of Hispanic respondents and 10 percent of Black respondents disagreed with the
statement, compared to 23 percent of white respondents. Hispanic respondents and Black
respondents who received the monthly payments were also more likely to say their experience
with the CTC made them feel like the government is responsive to the needs of their community
(69 percent and 66 percent, respectively) compared to white respondents (41 percent).
CLASP collaborated with IPSOS to survey a nationally representative sample of 1,050 adults with at least
one child in the household and with incomes below $75,000 in July 2022 – seven months after the end
of the monthly CTC payments. Statistically weighted results from the survey yield a nationally
representative sample of parents eligible for the CTC. The margin of error is 3.0 to 4.6 percentage
points, depending on count of respondents for key questions. This is the third related survey in a series
of surveys focusing on families’ experience with the program since its expansion last year. Prior findings
from the CTC survey conducted in July 2021 can be found here, and findings from our October 2021
survey appear here.
This research is conducted in partnership with University of California, Berkeley, the Center for the Study
of Social Policy, the Children’s Defense Fund, ideas42, the National Women’s Law Center, Prosperity
Now, UnidosUS, and the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center. Thank you to the Heising-Simons
Foundation for its generosity in funding the CTC survey research project.
