Four ways in which Biden’s new child tax credit will impact inequality

The US federal government’s $1.9 trillion relief package that President Joe Biden signed on March 11 will temporarily expand the child tax credit.

This credit, currently pegged at up to $2,000 a year per child until they turn 17, will instead total $3,600 for children under 6 and $3,000 for kids up to the age of 18 over the next 12 months. Starting in July, the Internal Revenue Service will distribute half this money to most families with children in monthly payments of either $250 or $300 per child. The IRS will deliver the balance at tax time in 2022.

The Conversation US asked Joya Misra, a sociologist who studies how public policies influence inequality, four questions about this new temporary benefit. We have republished their conversation here.