← Research PEER-REVIEWED · 2022

No Evidence the Child Tax Credit Expansion Had an Effect on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Parents

Benjamin Glasner, Oscar Jiménez-Solomon, Sophie Collyer, Irwin Garfinkel, Christopher Wimer

Health Affairs, vol. 41, no. 11, pp. 1607–1615

Summary

This study examines whether the 2021 expansion of the Child Tax Credit affected parents’ well-being and mental health, using survey data from more than 7,000 respondents collected during the expansion. The analysis finds no evidence that the expansion had a significant short-term effect on life satisfaction, anxiety, or depression symptoms among parents, a null result that contrasts with the credit’s documented effects on poverty and material hardship.

A plain-language summary written for this site, not the authors' published abstract. See the published version for the original.

Cite this

Benjamin Glasner, Oscar Jiménez-Solomon, Sophie Collyer, Irwin Garfinkel, and Christopher Wimer. 2022. “No Evidence the Child Tax Credit Expansion Had an Effect on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Parents.” Health Affairs 41(11): 1607–1615. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00730.

BibTeX

@article{glasner2022ctc_healthaffairs,
  title = {No Evidence the {Child Tax Credit} Expansion Had an Effect on the Well-Being and Mental Health of Parents},
  author = {Glasner, Benjamin and Jim{\'e}nez-Solomon, Oscar and Collyer, Sophie and Garfinkel, Irwin and Wimer, Christopher},
  journal = {Health Affairs},
  year = {2022},
  volume = {41},
  number = {11},
  pages = {1607--1615},
  doi = {10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00730},
}