The Workers Center for Racial Justice is working with coalition partners to establish a state child tax credit. Together with our partners at the Economic Security Project, WCRJ has introduced a bill to create a state-level child tax credit, which would provide an annual $300 tax credit per child, per household at the time of tax season.
COVID-era child tax credits proved that a little extra income goes a long way towards lifting children and families out of poverty. Our coalition is working to bring more cash relief to caregivers living in Illinois, which ranks 42nd out of 50 states (8th worst) in terms of wealth and tax equality. With Black children being dramatically and disproportionately impacted, access to cash resources is especially important for the communities that WCRJ represents.
We are also working with partners to advance Child Tax Credit on a federal level. In 2023, Congress let billions of dollars expire that helped families and child care providers stay afloat. Over 70,000 child care providers are facing closing their doors for good to working families, leaving 3.2 million children at risk of losing their spot for care. On average, families benefiting from the credit changes would see a tax cut of about $890 this year. Families in the bottom 20 percent would receive the largest average tax change. More than 90 percent of the benefit of the tax change in 2024 would go to families with income less than $50,900. Fourteen million children – about a fifth of all children – would benefit from the proposal.
Please sign on below if you are in support of the Child Tax Credit!
We will be traveling to Springfield in February to share stories of how lack of access to affordable child care impacts Black families across Illinois - stay tuned for opportunities to join us!