A working family credit that could fundamentally alter child poverty

Despite Democrats’ failed efforts over the past two years to permanently expand the child tax credit (CTC), recent reports suggest that some progressive lawmakers in Washington want to block an end-of-year omnibus bill in order to get their way. That effort is unlikely to succeed, but a longer-term compromise may be within reach.

There’s a straightforward plan for the new Congress to consider—consolidate the CTC and the earned income tax credit (EITC) into one working family credit (WFC) offering greater tax relief to working families and a better anti-poverty work incentive to poor families.