Child Tax Credits Help Poorest Americans Pay Off Costly Debt
- Census surveys offer first glimpse of where funds are flowing
- Low-income families say they ‘mostly use it to pay off debt’
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America’s poorest families are using new child benefits in large measure to climb out of debt, much of it likely accumulated during the pandemic.
U.S. Census Bureau surveys are offering an early glimpse of how households are spending $30 billion in enhanced child tax credits that have been distributed so far in two monthly payments. Families who earn less than $50,000 a year are focusing first on paying off debt.