{"id":26089,"date":"2021-07-16T23:43:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-16T23:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=26089"},"modified":"2021-07-17T14:36:45","modified_gmt":"2021-07-17T14:36:45","slug":"us-families-with-kids-are-getting-monthly-payments-from-the-government-4-essential-reads","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/us-families-with-kids-are-getting-monthly-payments-from-the-government-4-essential-reads\/","title":{"rendered":"US families with kids are getting monthly payments from the government: 4 essential reads"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Emily Schwartz Greco<\/a>, The Conversation<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most U.S. families with children will get six monthly payments<\/a> from the government in 2021, starting July 15. Parents and guardians may spend this money \u2013 $300 per child under 6 and $250 for every kid or teen who is 6 and up \u2013 on groceries, computers, child care<\/a>, sneakers or however else they see fit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Eighty-eight percent<\/a> of U.S. families with children under 18 are eligible for this new allowance Congress approved in March as part of a coronavirus relief package, which extends the child tax credit<\/a> to the lowest-earning Americans<\/a>. In addition to getting either $250 or $300 a month per kid for six months, families will also get a tax credit equal to six more monthly installments at tax time in 2022. The Internal Revenue Service is responsible for delivering the money, which will total either $3,000 or $3,600 per child.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Getting this no-strings-attached money from the government may seem almost routine after those three other \u201ceconomic impact payments<\/a>\u201d meant to ease the economic strains the COVID-19 pandemic caused. But, as experts writing for The Conversation U.S. have pointed out, this new cash infusion is significant in many ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Crossing an item off Nixon\u2019s to-do list<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The government nearly launched a similar payment system on a permanent basis during the Nixon administration more than 50 years ago<\/a>, explains Leslie Lenkowsky<\/a>, an Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy professor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It \u201cdied after a long and acrimonious battle in Congress<\/a>,\u201d Lenkowsky explains. He is watching to see whether President Joe Biden and many lawmakers<\/a> succeed as they seek to extend these allowances either for several years or the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhether the outcome will be the same this time around will say a lot about how Americans now think about how the government should approach social policies \u2013 and society\u2019s obligations to support families,\u201d Lenkowsky writes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read more: Biden’s goal to permanently boost support for families echoes a failed Nixon proposal from 50 years ago \u2013 will it take off this time?<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"President<\/a>
President Richard Nixon, center, and Daniel Patrick Moynihan \u2013 a member of his Cabinet at the time \u2013 wanted most low-income American families with children to get government payments. AP Photo<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

2. Becoming more like other rich countries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Family allowances are very common in other affluent countries, such as Germany<\/a>, Finland<\/a> and Canada<\/a>, observes Joya Misra<\/a>, a University of Massachusetts at Amherst sociologist who studies how public policies influence inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cChild poverty is extremely high in the U.S., relative to other rich countries, primarily because for decades it has spent less on supporting families<\/a> with children,\u201d Misra writes<\/a>. \u201cNearly 1 in 5 American children live in poverty<\/a>, far above the 12% average for the 37 wealthy and middle-income countries that belong to the Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Misra has no doubt that these payments will reduce child poverty. But she questions whether they will cut poverty in half \u2013 as has been widely reported. One reason is that the range in what it can cost to raise children<\/a> in different places within the U.S. varies widely across the U.S. \u201cClearly this boost to the child tax benefit will mean different things for families in different parts of the country,\u201d she notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Read more: Millions of American parents will soon get a monthly allowance: 4 questions answered<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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