Can Biden’s child tax credit really cut child poverty in half?

More than 35 million American families were sent checks of up to $300 per child on Thursday as the new expanded child tax credit went into effect. Roughly $15 billion was disbursed to the families of nearly 60 million children as part of this first wave of checks, which will be sent monthly through at least the end of the year.

Passed by Democrats in March as part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, the new program increases the size of the existing child tax credit — from $2,000 per child to $3,600 for younger children and $3,000 for older kids — and expands eligibility so even families with no income can receive the benefit. It also allows families to receive their payments in monthly installments, rather than one lump sum at the end of the year.

The details of how the new child tax credit affects the tax code are complicated, but the end result is simple: About 90 percent of American families with children will receive what is essentially a monthly child allowance, a policy that exists in most rich countries but has never before been tried in the U.S.