Underinvestment in America’s public infrastructure helped create the conditions for the inflation—or higher prices for the same goods, economywide—that the U.S. is currently experiencing. The economic recovery, fading emergency pandemic relief and the Federal Reserve’s actions will reduce inflation in 2022, but the Build Back Better Act presents the best opportunity for Congress to reduce inflationary pressure long term, cut costs for families and boost economic resilience.

Using state-level data from the Treasury Department on advance Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments, the Joint Economic Committee estimated the number of qualifying children, total number of payments and total payment amount by congressional district in December 2021, when the sixth round of CTC payments was distributed, as well as the cumulative payment amount by congressional district from July through December 2021. To mark six months of advance CTC payments, the JEC released a review of the evidence showing the economic benefits for 61 million children, 36 million families and the overall economy.

The expansion of the CTC, included in President Biden’s American Rescue Plan, is one of the largest-ever single-year tax cuts for families with children. It dramatically increased the value of the CTC from $2,000 per child to up to $3,600 per child under age 6 and $3,000 per child between age 6 and 17, putting money in the pockets of low- and middle-income families to pay for household expenses like food, rent, utilities and child care.