Speaker: Emily Dobson, SPP
Abstract: In 1991, the National Commission on Children recommended a refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC) to combat deep child poverty. Six years later, the CTC was enacted---but as a smaller, non-refundable credit. How did the CTC evolve from an anti-poverty effort to a middle-class tax break? In this paper, I examine the role of actors, ideas, and institutions in shaping the CTC’s early evolution. Drawing on evidence from the legislative and archival record, original oral history interviews, and secondary literature, this paper provides insight into the political pressures, institutional constraints, and fiscal realities shaping child poverty policy.