- President-elect Joe Biden is expected to expand child benefits in his new economic relief package by providing monthly payments to families with children.
- This plan is an addition the Biden’s plan to expand the Child Tax Credit, a plan he rolled out in September.
- Expanding child benefits is an effort to combat the significant rates of child poverty in the country.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
President-elect Joe Biden is expected to include expanded child benefits in his economic relief package that will be released on Thursday.
As part of his core campaign promise to help the middle class, Biden will likely push for measures to provide $300 per month to households with a child under the age of 6, along with $250 per month for every child between the age of 6 and 17, internal sources told The Washington Post.
In addition, Biden proposed to expand the Child Tax Credit by increasing the credit to $3,o00 per child for children aged 6 to 17, and $3,600 for children under 6.
“Biden’s CTC expansion will provide thousands of dollars of tax relief for middle-class households,” Biden’s website said. “It will also help the most-hard pressed working families avoid poverty and attain greater economic security.”
Marc Goldwein, the head of policy at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said on Twitter that a typical 5-member household could receive $19,000 with Biden’s expanded tax credit plan.
—Marc TWO MILLION SHOTS PER DAY Goldwein (@MarcGoldwein) January 14, 2021
Biden rolled out this proposal in September, and while benefits are substantial for the working class, drawbacks include working through the tax code to ensure deserving families are not left out, Insider previously reported.
The economic relief package is expected to have a price tag close to $1 trillion with the child benefits included, and many Democratic lawmakers support the expansion to combat the significant child poverty rates in the country.
House Democrats approved expansion of the child tax credit last year, and Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado said last year that he can think of "nothing more at war with who we are as Americans than allowing kids to grow up in poverty."