State Child Tax Credits Held Down Kids’ Poverty Rates, Data Show

The dozen US states that implemented a refundable child tax credit program in the wake of the pandemic held down child poverty rates relative to states that didn’t act, according to an analysis by Columbia University’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy.

The research evaluated how many children were projected to be lifted out of poverty because of the state initiatives, and how that compared with the impact from a one-year Covid-era federal program that expired at the end of 2021.

Many of the state-level credits were set in place or expanded as it became clear Congress wouldn’t quickly come ...