The Child Tax Credit Helps Mothers Like Me

A s a mother, I know firsthand that the Child Tax Credit (CTC) is a crucial support for working families of all kinds. The CTC helped me and my boys work our way to stability throughout many years and very different — sometimes very difficult — family circumstances. While not every family experiences as many ups and downs as mine did, the CTC should always be there to help parents help their children. In the coming negotiations over the tax code, pro-family Republicans should help more working families qualify for an expanded CTC to prevent families like mine from being left behind.

Today, my three boys are nine, three, and one — I’m finally at the point where my eldest can wrangle his little brothers while I make dinner. In 2017, when President Trump expanded the CTC in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, my eldest was one year old, just learning to walk. My husband and I divorced, and for the next four years, I raised him alone. There were days when I felt as wobbly as he did.

I had to juggle time at work and time at home. It was an enormous relief that the expanded CTC helped me stretch our budget. The CTC phased in alongside my wages, allowing every dollar I earned to go farther. Unlike other family benefit programs, the CTC never penalized me for getting a raise or taking on more hours. When I met a good man, the CTC didn’t impose a marriage penalty on us.

God granted us two sons, and our joys multiplied (along with the chaos). We both worked to support our growing family, and the CTC helped us pay off the hospital bills from their births. It also helped us keep up with the rising price of our weekly groceries. Eventually, our lives were stable enough that I could take a step back from work to focus on our boys and household. My husband kept up his work, and we found ways to trim our expenses to better invest in our family.

Unlike other family benefits, the CTC doesn’t play favorites for different family balances of work and homemaking. All that matters is our household income, not who is earning it. When we file our taxes, we can do the math and see it’s the CTC that allowed us to receive a tax refund, instead of owing more of our money to the government. The CTC lets families be treated fairly at tax time — it accounts for the money we need to spend on our children to help them flourish.

The money we received from the CTC helped me care for all my boys. It didn’t come with strings attached or pressure to make a choice that wasn’t right for our family. There were many moments when my everyday work as a mother felt invisible. The CTC is where our government supports and honors families. Raising my boys is an expression of my hope for the future, and it’s also my work to make that hope a reality. I’m glad our tax code recognizes the investment that I and other parents are putting into making America great for generations to come.

I’m grateful to have built a strong family and found a stable foundation for our finances. The CTC gave me a boost, not a handout, in the challenging early years. I want all parents to have the same support I did, and I’m glad the reconciliation bill will raise the CTC to $2,500, so parents get back some of what they’ve lost to inflation in recent years. I hope there’s room for more relief for parents working their way toward stability, whether that means expanding the refundable portion of the credit, lowering the threshold to start earning it, or both.

When the tax code is rewritten, I want us to build upon what’s working. America is strong when American families flourish. Motherhood is always demanding different things from me as my boys grow. The CTC gave me the financial flexibility to do my best as a mother, whatever our circumstances. I know there are women just like me, thinking about the baby that’s coming or the children they’re raising, and wondering who is rooting for them to succeed. I am. And a pro-family government should be, too.