Federal Payments to Families Associated With Decline in Child Maltreatment Reports

A study, “Short-Term Effects of Tax Credits on Rates of Child Maltreatment Reports in the United States,” found that reports of child maltreatment declined significantly for at least four weeks after families received money under two federal anti-poverty programs. The study, published in the July 2022 Pediatrics (published online June 6) followed up on previous research indicating that poverty and low income are associated with increased risk for child maltreatment. Researchers analyzed data from the Internal Revenue Service on weekly state-level total tax refunds from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) and Child Tax Credit (CTC) programs. They followed child maltreatment reports made to child welfare authorities in the period shortly after families received the EITC or CTC. Among 48 states and the District of Columbia, the average weekly rate of reported child maltreatment was 67 reports per 100,000 children, and the average state-level per-child refund dollars were $1,467 per child. The authors found a statistically significant reduction in rates of child maltreatment reports associated with higher tax refund amounts during the week of issuance, the week after issuance, and three weeks after issuance. They found that for each additional $1,000 in per-child tax refunds, rates of reported maltreatment declined in the several weeks immediately following refund payments by an estimated 5%. The largest impact of refunds occurred three weeks after refund issuance, with child maltreatment reports decreasing by 7.1 per 100,000 children. The authors conclude that income supports for low-income families can influence children's wellbeing.

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The American Academy of Pediatrics is an organization of 67,000 primary care pediatricians, pediatric medical subspecialists and pediatric surgical specialists dedicated to the health, safety and well-being of infants, children, adolescents and young adults.