Take-up of the 2021 child tax credit expansion among disadvantaged households in California: Continuing barriers to health equity

IF 3 3区医学 Q1 PUBLIC, ENVIRONMENTAL & OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH

Annals of Epidemiology Pub Date : 2025-06-27 DOI:10.1016/j.annepidem.2025.06.015

Kaitlyn E. Jackson MPH , Wendi Gosliner DrPH , Lia C.H. Fernald PhD, MBA , Nicole Fernández-Viña MPH , Rita Hamad MD, PhD

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Background

In 2021 Congress expanded the Child Tax Credit (CTC), one of the largest US economic supports for working families with proven benefits for health. Information on CTC take-up among eligible families is lacking. Understanding barriers to anti-poverty programs is an urgent policy issue, as low take-up is an established barrier to health equity.

Methods

Among a longitudinal cohort of primarily Latino and Black California families with low income (N = 380), we used data from individuals’ 2019 and 2021 tax returns to compare CTC take-up (i.e., receipt among eligible individuals) pre- and post-program expansion. We also compared CTC take-up with take-up of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a similar US anti-poverty tax policy. We also compared take-up rates by income, age, language, and education.

Results

CTC take-up was higher in 2021 (79 %) compared with 2019 (44 %). EITC take-up was relatively unchanged. CTC and EITC take-up was lower among marginalized groups across both periods.

Conclusion

CTC take-up increased in 2021 among this sample of low-income households, yet disparities persisted. Optimizing potential benefits of—and removing barriers to—the CTC and EITC could further reduce poverty and improve health equity. This study provides policymakers with timely evidence to inform program design to address persistent health and social inequities.

查看原文本刊更多论文

2021年加州弱势家庭扩大儿童税收抵免：健康公平的持续障碍。

背景：2021年，国会扩大了儿童税收抵免（CTC），这是美国对工薪家庭最大的经济支持之一，已被证明对健康有益。缺乏关于符合条件的家庭使用反恐药物情况的信息。了解反贫困方案的障碍是一个紧迫的政策问题，因为低使用率是卫生公平的既定障碍。方法：在主要由拉丁裔和加州黑人低收入家庭组成的纵向队列中（N=380），我们使用个人2019年和2021年纳税申报表的数据来比较CTC的使用（即符合条件的个人的收入）计划扩展前后。我们还比较了CTC的使用情况与劳动所得税抵免（EITC）的使用情况，EITC是一项类似的美国反贫困税收政策。我们还比较了收入、年龄、语言和教育程度等因素的入学率。结果：2021年CTC的使用率（79%）高于2019年（44%）。所得税抵免收入相对没有变化。在这两个时期，边缘化群体的CTC和EITC使用率较低。结论：在我们的低收入家庭样本中，2021年CTC的使用有所增加，但差距仍然存在。优化CTC和EITC的潜在利益并消除障碍，可以进一步减少贫困并改善卫生公平。这项研究为政策制定者提供了及时的证据，为规划设计提供信息，以解决持续存在的健康和社会不平等问题。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Annals of Epidemiology 医学-公共卫生、环境卫生与职业卫生

CiteScore

7.40

自引率

1.80%

发文量

207

审稿时长

59 days

期刊介绍： The journal emphasizes the application of epidemiologic methods to issues that affect the distribution and determinants of human illness in diverse contexts. Its primary focus is on chronic and acute conditions of diverse etiologies and of major importance to clinical medicine, public health, and health care delivery.