Following the passage of the broader American Rescue Plan earlier this year, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer has heralded the recent Child Tax Credit (CTC) expansion which ensures payments of up to $300 per child will automatically go out to families across New York State, each month. The program took effect on Friday, July 16 and Schumer said the plan will impact over 86 percent of New York children.

“Help is here for families across New York in the form of enhanced Child Tax Credits that puts more money in families’ pockets to recover from COVID, while boosting New York’s economy,” said Schumer. “Over 86 percent of families throughout New York will benefit from the enhanced Child Tax Credit just as they begin to fully recover from the global health and economic pandemic that rocked our country for the past year.”

The U.S. Senate majority leader said the significant expansion of the CTC will cut the nation’s child poverty rate in half and bring necessary relief. “The credit expansion, on top of the $1,400 direct checks that came earlier this year, will provide New York’s families with thousands of dollars of relief, directly in their pockets,” he said. “Getting additional federal dollars into the hands of struggling families not only makes sense, but it’s what’s needed to help the New York recover from the pandemic.”

Schumer went on to explain that the CTC, which he described as one of the most powerful and effective anti-poverty tools the federal government has, was significantly expanded for American households in the American Rescue Plan. His office said the tax credit expansion will deliver an estimated $7.03 billion in additional economic relief to families with children across New York and will have a major impact on families.

The total amount of expanded CTC payments headed to each region in New York State can be found below:

Schumer also highlighted that researchers have estimated that the American Rescue Plan, including the expanded CTC, will cut the child poverty rate in half nationally. Specifically, he said the relief bill increases the CTC amount from $2,000 to $3,000 per child aged 6 to 17 (and to $3,600 per child aged under 6) during 2021.

Additionally, his office said the bill makes the CTC fully refundable, and removes the $2,500 earnings floor in order to be eligible to receive the credit in 2021, ensuring that the lowest income households will be able to benefit from the maximum credit amount for the year. Schumer’s office said this change was important as it corrected flaws in the credit that had prevented around 27 million children nationwide, whose families have little or no income, from receiving the full benefit. In New York State alone, his office said this credit expansion will benefit 1,546,000 of these children who were previously left out of the full CTC plan.

The increased $3,000 or $3,600 (as applicable) CTC plan is available to families making less than $150,000 annually, and it phases down for families earning above that income level, so households who earn over $150,000 will see a reduced credit. Schumer said the boosted credit amount is particularly impactful in lower-income households. He said it has been found that increasing the income of a low-income child’s family early in their life has numerous, critical, longer-term benefits on education, health, and even on employment.

Specifically, it is estimated that a $3,000 increase in annual family income for children under five translates into an estimated 19 percent earnings increase in adulthood.

According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, an estimated 3,564,000 children across New York will benefit from this expanded tax credit, including 583,000 Black children, 954,000 Latinx children, and 266,000 Asian American children. It will also lift 680,000 children in the State above or closer to the minimum poverty line.