Sign letter: We urge that Child Tax Credits go to mothers or other primary caregivers

Members of Congress, President Biden and Vice President Harris:

We urge that Child Tax Credits go to mothers or other primary caregivers, leading to a permanent child cash benefit, and for the $15/hour minimum wage campaign promise to be honored.

SIGN THE LETTER

Seventy percent of the poor in the US are women and children.1 After decades of women’s campaigning against the poverty of children and their mothers, we are encouraged that President Biden’s American Rescue Plan includes a fully refundable Child Tax Credit (CTC). The CTC would pay millions of families $3600 a year ($300/mo.) per child under six and $3000 a year ($250/mo.) per child six to 17, reducing (but shockingly not eliminating) deep poverty among children.2,3

We call on you to ensure that:

  1. The Child Tax Credit goes to the mother or other primary caregiver. This is the only assurance that children will benefit, and it begins to recognize and support the vital caring work mothers do. It will also help mothers to protect themselves and their children from domestic violence, which is widespread.4
  2. It leads to the establishment of a permanent child cash benefit.
  3. All primary caregivers are eligible, including those receiving benefits, or who have no income, or are homeless, or are undocumented ITIN filers.5
  4. It is easy to access for all families, especially those without bank accounts.
  5. It cannot be used to cut benefits or garnished to pay debts.
  6. The commitment of the Biden/Harris campaign to pass a $15/hour minimum wage is honored, especially but not only because 59% of low-waged workers are women, disproportionately single mothers and women of color.6

SIGN THE LETTER

Issued by Care Income Now/Global Women’s Strike/Women of Color GWS
We campaign for payment for all caregivers, caring for people and for the planet that sustains us. During the 2020 US presidential election, we convened Election Action for Caregivers which pressed candidate – now president – Biden to support fully refundable and expanded child tax credits.  This is now included in the American Rescue Plan
Contact us at: careincomenow@globalwomenstrike.net


1 Legal Momentum, The Women’s Legal Defense and Education Fund, Women and Poverty in America.

2 Columbia University Center on Poverty and Social Policy, A Poverty Reduction Analysis of the American Family Act, Jan 25, 2021. They estimate that deep poverty would be reduced by 49% overall.

3 The Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival (PPC) challenges current poverty measures which undercount the numbers of poor people. The PPC estimates that even before the pandemic there were 140 million poor and low-wealth people in the US, including half of all children (38.5 million children), so the full impact of child tax credits on the number of children living in poverty is uncertain.

4 1 in 4 women suffer from domestic violence.

5 ITIN is an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number issued to individuals required to have a taxpayer id number who are not eligible to obtain a Social Security number.

6 Economic Policy Institute, Why the U.S. needs a $15 minimum wage, Jan 26, 2021. Nearly two-thirds or 65% of mothers paid less than minimum wage in the US are single mothers. (Center for American Progress, Raising the Minimum Wage is Key to Supporting the Breadwinning Mothers Who Drive the Economy, Feb 23, 2021.) Among Black mothers in the low-waged workforce, 84% are sole or primary breadwinners. (National Women’s Law Center, When Hard Work is Not Enough: Women in Low Paid Jobs, April 2020.)  


SIGN THE LETTER

Organizations who have signed on so far:

#MeToo Survivors, Los Angeles, CA
1000 Grandmothers for Future Generations
999consultancyLtd, York, United Kingdom
A New Way of Life Reentry Project, Compton, CA
African American Wellness Center for Children & Families, San Diego, CA
Alexandria House, Los Angeles, CA
BeautyHealth2Wealth, Philadelphia, PA
California Poor Peoples Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival
Chiapas Support Committee, San Francisco Bay Area, California
Coalition on Human Needs
Community Impact Consulting, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Empower Foundation, Thailand
End Solitary Santa Cruz County, Santa Cruz, CA
Every Mother is a Working Mother Network
Faithful Fools, San Francisco, CA
Family and Home Network, Alexandria, VA
Family Prez Coalition, Philadelphia, PA
Florence Aliese Advancement Network, LLC, Los Angeles, CA
Germantown Friends Meeting Racial and Social Justice Committee, Philadelphia, PA
Global Women’s Strike
Gray Panthers of Metropolitan Washington, Washington, DC
Guerilla Food Not Bombs
Haiti Action Committee
Hunger Action LA, Los Angeles, CA
Just Harvest, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
Justice 4 Rica Jae, Bloomington, IL
LA CAN (Community Action Network), Los Angeles, CA
LARooted- Intergenerational Health and Resilience, Lincoln Heights, CA
Maafa SF Bay Area, Oakland, CA
Martin Luther King Coalition of Greater Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA
Migraines No Mo, Culver City, CA
Mothers Against Gun Violence, Milwaukee, WI
Mothers Outreach Network, Washington, DC
Movement for Family Power
Multi-faith ACTION Coalition of Contra Costa County, Danville, CA
National Council of Negro Women Orange County Section
National Welfare Rights Union
Old Women’s Project, San Diego, CA
Orange County Peace Coalition
Payday men’s network
Peace Action WI, Milwaukee, WI
Peace Builders of Orange County, Santa Ana, CA
Peace, Justice, Sustainability Now
Peacehome Campaigns, Philadelphia, PA
Pennsylvania Poor People’s Campaign
Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
POWER, Economic Dignity Strategy Team, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Precinct Reporter Group/Tri County Bulletin/Long Beach Leader
Preudhomme, Dunston and Associates, Brooklyn, New York
Progressive Democrats of America, Los Angeles, California
Public Advocacy for Kids (PAK), Washington, DC
Shriver Center on Poverty Law, Chicago, Illinois
The Sidewalk Project, Los Angeles, CA
Therapists for Peace & Justice, Oakland, CA
Thomas Merton Center, Pittsburgh, PA
Topanga Peace Alliance, Topanga, California
US PROStitutes Collective, San Francisco, CA
Veterans for Peace/LA, Los Angeles, CA
We All Rise, New York, New York
Welfare Warriors, Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Western Regional Advocacy Project, San Francisco, CA
Women of Color/Global Women’s Strike
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Milwaukee, WI
Women’s March Foundation, Los Angeles, CA
Women’s Economic Agenda Project, Oakland, CA
Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Santa Cruz, CA
Xicali products, Los Angeles, CA
Young Women’s Freedom Center, San Francisco, CA

And 290 individuals, including actress Mimi Kennedy.