After we had baby #3, my husband left full time military service and went to graduate school and then we made the decision for him to go on to a PhD in another country, where we were mostly living on savings and support from family and friends. All that was in a time frame where we thought we would be trying to conceive again. Many things made that feel impractical. Once he was done with that schooling, I suddenly had a moment, speaking to a young mom's group, that I didn't "fit" with that group anymore. I had moved on. It was a very strong sensation that I hadn't felt before. We took that as a sign that we were "done." Fast forward another 6 years to when child #3 was 10 and we had a surprise baby #4. Sometimes you're not the one who determines that you're done!
Did we ever think we were done? Yes, after the fourth child. We had 2 boys and 2 girls and were content. Youngest was 6 at the time. Our kids BEGGED us to have another one. We were torn, so we had our pastor over and sought advice from him. He said, "What's stopping you?" and we couldn't give a well thought out answer. We had no good reasons for not trying for another child, so we did. He's now 17. Absolutely no regrets.
It's not that this is a bad thing, it's just that it only helps those who have more than $2000 in their tax bill. That's a lot of people, but not the poorest, who, by the way, are already eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which already increases per child (up to three) and is a very significant amount of money - up to $8,000 by the third child. AND the earned income credit is a refundable credit, meaning you get it even if you pay no taxes, so the poorest are still eligible for it. If you prepare tax returns, you know that Earned Income Credit tax return season is like Christmas in the communities of the poor.
This new credit also comes too late - by the time this check would show up, the baby is by definition at least five months old, and possibly seventeen. The big bills hit much sooner than that.
It's a kindly thought, but likely to be entirely ineffectual in terms of changing behavior. In aspirational terms, though, maybe it's worth having Congress make the statement of support for mothers and babies.
Actually, it's fully refundable as a credit! You don't need to owe taxes to qualify!
I'm not sure where you're getting the at least 5 months or possibly 17mo old? This comes a month or two after the baby is born, outside of tax time, specifically to cover the gap of e.g. the CTC which doesn't come until you next file taxes.
Many women are up against the biological deadline of fertility loss at age 40. Yes women do have babies later but often not. We have not found ways to work around this by policies which support women having babies during their 20's and 30's when they are pursuing higher education and careers. Also $2000 is a drop in the bucket of the costs of pregnancy and raising a child. A good place to start would be universal healthcare and subsidized childcare. We should actually be collecting more in taxes not less but tax the right people.
Excellent news! I will reach out to my Congresswoman and U.S. Senators about this bill. I think Sen. Amy Klobuchar in particular is a Democrat who would support this!
After we had baby #3, my husband left full time military service and went to graduate school and then we made the decision for him to go on to a PhD in another country, where we were mostly living on savings and support from family and friends. All that was in a time frame where we thought we would be trying to conceive again. Many things made that feel impractical. Once he was done with that schooling, I suddenly had a moment, speaking to a young mom's group, that I didn't "fit" with that group anymore. I had moved on. It was a very strong sensation that I hadn't felt before. We took that as a sign that we were "done." Fast forward another 6 years to when child #3 was 10 and we had a surprise baby #4. Sometimes you're not the one who determines that you're done!
Did we ever think we were done? Yes, after the fourth child. We had 2 boys and 2 girls and were content. Youngest was 6 at the time. Our kids BEGGED us to have another one. We were torn, so we had our pastor over and sought advice from him. He said, "What's stopping you?" and we couldn't give a well thought out answer. We had no good reasons for not trying for another child, so we did. He's now 17. Absolutely no regrets.
It's not that this is a bad thing, it's just that it only helps those who have more than $2000 in their tax bill. That's a lot of people, but not the poorest, who, by the way, are already eligible for the Earned Income Tax Credit, which already increases per child (up to three) and is a very significant amount of money - up to $8,000 by the third child. AND the earned income credit is a refundable credit, meaning you get it even if you pay no taxes, so the poorest are still eligible for it. If you prepare tax returns, you know that Earned Income Credit tax return season is like Christmas in the communities of the poor.
This new credit also comes too late - by the time this check would show up, the baby is by definition at least five months old, and possibly seventeen. The big bills hit much sooner than that.
It's a kindly thought, but likely to be entirely ineffectual in terms of changing behavior. In aspirational terms, though, maybe it's worth having Congress make the statement of support for mothers and babies.
Actually, it's fully refundable as a credit! You don't need to owe taxes to qualify!
I'm not sure where you're getting the at least 5 months or possibly 17mo old? This comes a month or two after the baby is born, outside of tax time, specifically to cover the gap of e.g. the CTC which doesn't come until you next file taxes.
Many women are up against the biological deadline of fertility loss at age 40. Yes women do have babies later but often not. We have not found ways to work around this by policies which support women having babies during their 20's and 30's when they are pursuing higher education and careers. Also $2000 is a drop in the bucket of the costs of pregnancy and raising a child. A good place to start would be universal healthcare and subsidized childcare. We should actually be collecting more in taxes not less but tax the right people.
Excellent news! I will reach out to my Congresswoman and U.S. Senators about this bill. I think Sen. Amy Klobuchar in particular is a Democrat who would support this!