Putting money back in family pockets is one of the most effective ways to improve affordability for New Jerseyans and help them meet the high cost of raising a child. Expanding the Child Tax Credit by 25 percent will help families with young children stretch their budgets a little farther, lifting more families out of poverty and into economic security.
Since it began, the Child Tax Credit has helped hundreds of thousands of New Jersey children, with an average benefit of about $950 for recipients. Although this money does not erase the costs of raising children, it does ease the burden on families. As the federal expanded Child Tax Credit during 2021 demonstrated, this credit can be a tool in slashing child poverty dramatically, if more resources are directed to fund it.
The proposed changes will increase the amount distributed to families to roughly $260 million. But this amount is still roughly the size of the Film and Digital Media Tax Credit, which subsidizes film studio productions, and roughly one-third the size of the proposed Stay NJ compromise.
Lawmakers with an interest in improving affordability for New Jersey families can continue to build on this tax credit by expanding the age range upwards and increasing the credit amount to help families adjust to rising costs.
There is only one amendment NJPP is seeking – extending the three-year window or instead making this change permanent. Costs will not be lower for New Jersey families in three years and the cost of this change is substantially lower than many permanent tax expenditures.
NJPP urges the committee to vote yes on this critical piece of legislation and help hundreds of thousands of children and their families afford to grow and thrive in New Jersey.
