The number of Connecticut families who are unable to pay for their basic needs continues to rise, and communities are looking for new ways to ease the financial burden.
West Haven resident Jaqueline Torres belongs to one of the state’s more than 500,000 families who struggle to pay for everyday necessities. Torres was raised in the foster care system, and still struggles with the experiences’ aftermath.
“My years of living in survival mode are now over, I now have to make ends meet to survive the daily life, the real life,” Torres said. “That's rent, food, gas, daycare, which are all basic human necessities.”
Community advocates and legislators want to revisit the establishment of a permanent state child tax credit to help families struggling to make ends meet. About 75% of Connecticut’s families would qualify for a state child tax credit, according to the United Way of Connecticut.
Child tax credit advocates reignited the push in August, after the motion failed to pass the General Assembly during the most recent legislative session, but updated data shows the increase in need among Connecticut families.
Connecticut had a temporary child tax credit for qualifying low-income families. The program was funded by COVID relief dollars and expired in 2021.
The temporary credit provided qualifying low- and middle-income families a rebate of up to a maximum of $750, or $250 annually per child up to three children.
The Connecticut Child Tax Credit Coalition, led by the United Way of Connecticut formed a petition in July calling for the state to consider instating a permanent child tax credit. The petition garnered nearly 600 signatures.
“Connecticut is now the only state in America with an independent state tax policy and no policy to offset the cost of that income tax for families,” United Way of Connecticut Chief Executive Officer Lisa Tepper Bates said. “Other states in the last few years have seen the wisdom of instituting a state level child tax credit, and have done it. So now we are the single outlier.”
Interest in a permanent state child tax credit has grown, Tepper Bates said.
“The momentum has continued to build among our allies, like the people in this room, there are more than 50 organizations, from pediatricians to nonprofit housing providers, to people who work in mental health, who stand with us,” Tepper Bates said.
Connecticut’s rainy day surplus fund is maxed out, with $4 billion set aside. Democratic State Rep. Anthony Nolan, who represents New London, said the state should consider dipping into the surplus, and increasing the tax rate for the state’s highest earners to fund a permanent child tax credit.
“We take $400 million from our surplus, and we can raise the income tax for the higher income people in our community, the 1%,” Nolan said. “If we can just raise it 1%, we can gross about a billion dollars.”
About 564,000 families in Connecticut are stuck in the middle ground of being above the federal poverty level, but not earning enough to cover all their basic needs. These families fall under the categorization of ALICE, or Asset Limited Income Constrained Employed.
The ALICE threshold represents the minimum income necessary for survival of a household in a certain community. ALICE households earn more than the Federal Poverty Level, but not enough to thrive in their county. The national study is administered by United Way, including Connecticut’s chapter.
The most recent ALICE report shows the number of Connecticut families that are below the ALICE threshold increased 13% from 2019-2022.
