Work • Cash Tax Credits
Cash gives people the tools for economic stability and freedom.
Expanding and modernizing the EITC and CTC is a powerful and practical way to help low- and middle-income Americans.

Featured
CNN: Poverty is a Policy Choice We Can’t Afford to Make Anymore

82% of Voters Support Broad Eligibility of the Child Tax Credit, As Census Data Shows Child Poverty Doubled After Program’s Lapse in 2022
Read More: 82% of Voters Support Broad Eligibility of the Child Tax Credit, As Census Data Shows Child Poverty Doubled After Program’s Lapse in 2022Momentum Grows for State Tax Credit Programs with Key Legislative Wins
Read More: Momentum Grows for State Tax Credit Programs with Key Legislative WinsSo Much More Than A Check: Our Report On The Fight For An Expanded Child Tax Credit
Read More: So Much More Than A Check: Our Report On The Fight For An Expanded Child Tax CreditCash provides predictability, empowering families not just to make ends meet, but to make choices that aren’t constrained by financial insecurity.
Case in point: the Child Tax Credit. The monthly payments provided in the last half of 2021 took the edge off of everyday worries, like buying groceries and paying the gas bill, while also providing a powerful lever for families to transform their lives. The payments were incredibly effective, resulting in a steep drop in food insecurity among Black and Latinx families in particular.
50%
percentage that child poverty decreased in 2021, in part because of the CTC
82%
of voters support an expanded Child Tax credit.
These credits clearly work, and are popular on both sides of the aisle. Economic Security Project is fighting to expand and modernize cash tax credits, so that they work more powerfully for more people. We aim to make the expanded monthly Child Tax Credit permanent, and to update the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). An improved EITC would arrive, like the Child Tax Credit, without the recipient even having to file for it, as an automatic monthly payment, rather than a lump sum at tax time. These monthly cash payments would help smooth income volatility, affording people baseline stability so they can meet their regular expenses and make plans with confidence.
We are also working to ensure these popular credits are easy to receive, and widely and equitably available, regardless of a person’s immigration status or income level. The credits should include low-income students, and those whose work has been overlooked in the past – such as parents or other caregivers caring for young children and those who take care of sick, disabled, or elderly family members.
These goals are ambitious but achievable. Cash tax credits are proven tools that are already at hand. By updating them so they are more effective and accessible to more people, we can build a world where basic financial stability and the freedom it brings are attainable for all.
Campaigns and Projects
Benefits Access and Equity
By design and practice, many of the people who need tax credits the most have the hardest time getting them: research has revealed that a significant proportion of low-income households, including a disproportionate number of people of color, miss out on receiving cash payments through tax credits.

Federal CTC and EITC
We are out in the field, organizing a movement behind this powerful idea, bringing together diverse groups around the country to join the fight for increasing cash benefits for families.

State CTC and EITC
We help build and support state campaigns for cash tax credits headed by changemakers on the ground and give them the resources they need to build powerful coalitions of experts, communicators, organizers, and advocates.

Cash Tax Credit Resources
Parents Call For Revival of Expanded Child Tax Credit Prior to White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
The extended Child Tax Credit is a critical tool for solving hunger
Visit link: The extended Child Tax Credit is a critical tool for solving hungerPolling Shows Majority of Americans Believe that Congress Should Prioritize Tax Relief for Families over Tax Breaks for Corporations
Growing consensus that Congress must prioritize CTC
Visit link: Growing consensus that Congress must prioritize CTCPublic Opinion on the Child Tax Credit
Voters favor the Child Tax Credit by a wide margin. About half strongly favor it
Visit link: Voters favor the Child Tax Credit by a wide margin. About half strongly favor itRacial Justice and Civil Rights Organizations Call for CTC Boost
Groups call for a restoration of the expanded CTC
Visit link: Groups call for a restoration of the expanded CTCCTC Favored by 30-40 Points Among Key Demographics
Greenberg Quinlan Rosner/Democracy Corps Polling
Visit link: Greenberg Quinlan Rosner/Democracy Corps Polling