Bennet, Bicameral Colleagues Statement on New Child Poverty Data from U.S. Census Bureau and Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy

Sep 10, 2025| Press Releases

Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) joined U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and U.S. Representatives Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.), and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) to issue the following joint statement in response to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau showing that the child poverty rate remains high after the 2021 American Rescue Plan's expanded, monthly Child Tax Credit (CTC) expired in 2022:

"The US Census Bureau data shows what we already knew to be true when we expanded the Child Tax Credit in 2021 - that had the American Family Act Child Tax Credit been in effect in 2024, we would continue to see steep reductions in child poverty, by itself reducing the child poverty rate nearly in half. Furthermore, President Trump's Big Ugly Law does basically nothing to strengthen the Child Tax Credit or reduce child poverty - if anything, it risks making things worse for families struggling with high costs. In fact, there is essentially no additional child poverty reduction from the Big Ugly Law's Child Tax Credit. By enacting the American Family Act, we would make the expanded, monthly Child Tax Credit permanent - providing families with the largest middle class tax cut on record and economic security during this cost-of-living crisis while greatly reducing child poverty."

"We have a proven solution to helping families with high costs. Do not be fooled by what the Republicans are selling. An expanded, monthly Child Tax Credit must be made permanent - we should enact the American Family Act immediately. We will fight to ensure hardworking families - the backbone of the American economy - receive this needed tax cut."

An analysis by the Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy found that under the Republican Budget Bill, the child poverty rate would stay the same. If the American Family Act had become law, however, a total of 5.6 million children would have been kept out of poverty.

To learn more about the differences between the CTC in the Republican Budget Bill and the Expanded CTC in the American Family Act, click HERE.