The American Rescue Plan Act enacted in March 2021 expanded the child tax credit to as much as $3,600 a year for children under six and made it fully refundable and perhaps payable in advance. At least some are hailing the credit as something close to a school voucher, saying the money could help pay for parochial school. It would also lift millions of children out of poverty. Should this one-year provision be made permanent law as is? Or are there alternative uses of this federal money or modifications to the policy that would bring better outcomes for children, with a lower risk of unintended consequences?

Matthew Yglesias, a journalist who writes about economics and politics, and Scott Winship, director of poverty studies at the American Enterprise Institute, weigh in on these questions.

Deprivation Is Not Simply a Material Matter

by Scott Winship

Cash Is King in Supporting Families

by Matthew Yglesias

This article appeared in the Fall 2021 issue of Education Next. Suggested citation format:

Winship, S. and Yglesias, M. (2021). Should Congress Make the Expanded Child Tax Credit Permanent? Education Next, 21(4), 66-73.