LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new child tax credit is providing some relief to families that may have lost jobs or been forced to cut down their hours at work due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Jazzilin Williams is a working mother of three, and one of about 46,000 Louisville families who will benefit from an expanded child tax credit rolling out Thursday.
“The tax credit will help me provide for my kids by putting money back into their savings account," Williams said.
It’s money she and her husband have been forced to spend over the past year during the pandemic that shut down her kids’ day care and schools.
“And we both had to decide who was going to take off work," she said.
The tax credit is part of a federal spending bill aimed at speeding up economic recovery from the pandemic.
“The impact is really extraordinary," said Jason Bailey, Kentucky Center for Economic Policy's executive director.
Bailey said 92% of Kentucky kids will get some financial help from this expanded tax credit, reducing child poverty in the state by 44%.
“So this is really a benefit that's going to be widely available to families to help address the cost of raising children," Bailey said.
In Kentucky, one in five kids live in poverty.
“There's just no excuse for that in the richest country on Earth," he said.
For Williams, the credit does not mean she’s going to work any less, but it does mean she can breathe a sigh of relief.
“I believe that it came in the nick of time, with school starting with Christmas coming up and out there, my children's birthdays coming up," Williams said.
Williams said she is not alone being relieved about this tax credit. But, it’s temporary. As of now that tax credit will only be available for the next year. Many local lawmakers are pushing for the benefit to be made permanent.
For more information, go to www.childtaxcredit.gov. On that site, people can also choose to opt out of receiving the monthly payments and get it all in one lump sum at tax time if they prefer.
RELATED: More than 2 million Kentucky, Indiana families are eligible for the expanded child tax credit
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