The first three years of a child’s life are a time of extraordinary, brain development, yet too many infants and toddlers spend these early years without the family income needed to make ends meet, many in outright poverty.
The historic expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) included in the American Rescue Plan (ARP), which President Biden signed into law on March 11, 2021 will not only provide critical resources for families with babies and toddlers and lead to an historical reduction in early childhood poverty, but it will also set millions of children on a stronger developmental trajectory, with positive impacts reverberating over the course of their lives. Moving forward, we must sustain these improvements, while taking steps to ensure the CTC reaches all children and families who could benefit from it.
