Parents reported less trouble affording food and paying for household expenses after the first payment was sent on July 15, according to the latest Census Bureau Household Pulse Survey, released Wednesday.
The next installment — as much as $300 for each child up to age 6 and $250 for each one ages 6 through 17 — is scheduled for Friday.
Just over 10% of households with children sometimes or often didn’t have enough to eat over the past seven days, according to the survey, which was conducted between July 21 and August 2.
That’s the lowest estimate since the start of the coronavirus pandemic and a “huge drop” of 3.5 percentage points from the prior survey taken a month earlier, said Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University.
But among households without children, the share of adults struggling to pay expenses increased slightly during this period.
Spending on school needs and food
Parents spent their child tax credit payments on more than one thing, but school expenses was the largest category, according to the Census Bureau. Some 57% used at least part of the money for books and supplies, tuition, tutoring, school transportation or after-school activities (not including child care).
Some 47% of parents used at least some of the funds for food, while 28% spent it on Internet, cell phones and other utilities and nearly a quarter purchased clothing.
“It looks like families are using this to pay for basic needs that their kids have,” Schanzenbach said. “These are things we know many families are struggling with. This extra payment is going to reduce the number of families at risk.”
Overall, some 27% of parents said mostly spent the child tax credit payment, 32% said they mostly saved it and 40% said they mostly used it to pay down debt, according to the survey.
Nearly 36% of Asian-American parents said they mostly spent the payment, compared to White, Black and Hispanic parents at 26% each.
Nearly half of Hispanic families and 45% of Black families said they mostly used it to pay down debt, compared to 37% of White families and 26% of Asian-American families.
And 37% of Asian-American parents and 36% of White parents said they mostly saved the payment, compared to 27% of Black parents and 25% of Hispanic parents.
Enhanced payments
Families will receive five more monthly payments, including the one coming…
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