Families are in distress after the first month without the expanded child tax credit

Had Congress renewed the expanded child tax credit at the end of last year, Jen Cousins would have received $1,000 from the government on Jan. 14.

She would have used the money to fix the brakes on her family’s only vehicle, a minivan. She would have taken her four kids to the eye doctor because they all need new glasses. Some of the money would have gone toward saving for fixing the roof of their house in Orlando, Fla.

But in December, Congress left Washington for winter recess without passing President Biden’s Build Back Better agenda, which included an extension of the expanded child tax credit, or CTC.