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Why boosting the Child Tax Credit has become a key issue for Harris and Trump
Norristown, Pennsylvania — If anyone knows how expensive it is to raise a child, it’s Raegen Selden, an office manager in Norristown, Pennsylvania. She has raised six children who range in age from 12 to 25.
“I have two sons who are hungry every second, every minute of the day,” Selden said. “I have daughters who would like to think that they eat dainty, but they don’t.”
Her family has always relied on the federal Child Tax Credit, first created in 1997, to help make ends meet. During the pandemic, the credit was boosted temporarily from $2,000 to $3,000 per child, and up to $3,600 for families with children under the age of 6.
The move helped cut U.S. child poverty by 46%, according to a 2022 report from the U.S. Census Bureau.
“Bills still needed to be paid and things still needed to be bought,” Selden said. “And it was a comfort in knowing that you had this extra income.”
It costs an estimated $310,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18, the Brookings Institution found in a 2022 report. One of the few things both presidential candidates agree on is that the Child Tax Credit should get a big boost.
Former President Donald Trump’s campaign is proposing a $5,000 per child yearly tax credit. Vice President Kamala Harris is proposing a credit of up to $3,600 per child, with a bump to $6,000 for newborns.
Trump wants the credit to go to all families regardless of income, while Harris would restrict the credit to low and middle-income families only. She would also make the credit “refundable,” meaning even parents who don’t pay taxes would get the credit in cash.
“This is a really exciting moment,” University of Maryland economics professor Melissa Kearney told CBS News. “…We have tons of evidence that supplementing the income of low-income families with children really meaningfully improves those children’s lives. We see they do better in school. Their health outcomes are improved in ways that persist into their adulthood.”
The cost has always been a sticking point. A bill to expand the credit failed in the Senate just last month.
Selden believes parents should receive a Child Tax Credit because their children “are taking care of our future.”
“We want them to grow up to be great, productive citizens in this country,” she added. “And it’s like you can’t do that if they can’t eat.”
Tupperware and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once-iconic food container maker said in a statement late Tuesday.
The company has suffered from dwindling sales following a surprise surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when legions of people stuck at home tried their hands at cooking, which increased demand for Tupperware’s colorful plastic containers with flexible airtight seals.
A post-pandemic rise in costs of raw materials and shipping, along with higher wages, also hurt Tupperware’s bottom line.
Last year, it warned of “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
“Over the last several years, the Company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,” Goldman said.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company.”
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
“We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” Goldman said.
The firm’s shares were trading at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
“The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work.”
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware lost popularity with consumers in recent years and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company’s roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper “had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression,” according to Tupperware’s website.
“If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.”
Over time, Tupper’s containers became popular that many people referred to any plastic food container as Tupperware. And people even threw “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell the containers to friends and neighbors.
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