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> Like $1,400 is less than one month of childcare for one kid. Say you're married and have 3 kids under 6 and 1 kid over 6. With the fully refundable child tax

> Like $1,400 is less than one month of childcare for one kid. Say you're married and have 3 kids under 6 and 1 kid over 6. With the fully refundable child tax credit, in 2021 your household would automatically receive 1400 x 2 + 3600 x 3 + 3000 = $16,600. That's more then 10% of Americans make a year at their jobs. That's not including any other benefits such as unemployment and food stamps, which you'd certainly be eligible for if you didn't have a job in 2021.

ocdtrekkie 4y ago
So... this is pretty hilarious. First of all, you picked an arbitrary four kids to pad out your numbers, but... if each kid costs $1,500 plus a month for childcare, it'd cost $6,000 a month, or $72,000 just for childcare. I get a few thousand of that back as a tax writeoff, but... it's not going to break even. So thanks for the $16,600... by your math I'm still over $50,000 in the hole. I make plenty more than $50k a year, but there's also, you know, rent... food... did you know the cost of natural gas has tripled this year? In the winter it's $400 a month to stave off hypothermia. Second, the child tax credit is... not free money. It's a credit on my taxes, and it's also not new. The only thing that really changed with the child tax credit is that the government allows you to collect it monthly instead of all at once during tax season. Which really just changes the formula between getting a big refund and getting tiny chunks of refund throughout the year. And bear in mind, you have to be bringing in that much taxable income in the first place to actually get anything back. I'm guessing you don't have kids, or you'd have some idea how the math works out on these. But having kids is... not affordable... in the current economy, even if you're making a solid non-Silicon Valley tech salary. The idea that anyone would pay $70 to fill their gas tank, to spend nearly $100 a day on childcare, to do some restaurant job paying $10 an hour is absolutely laughable.
- bitshiftfaced 4y ago
  A quick search is saying the average US cost of childcare is around $850, but we're talking about a family who's unemployed. Why are we assuming a hypothetical married household is paying for childcare when both parents are unemployed? > And bear in mind, you have to be bringing in that much taxable income in the first place to actually get anything back. The 2021 child tax credit was fully refundable. You get it whether you owe taxes or not.
  - ocdtrekkie 4y ago
    > average us cost of childcare is around $850 In Nebraska, maybe. Not here. > we're talking about a family who's unemployed No, I definitely wasn't, and if you were, almost nothing you're speaking of would apply anyways. > You get it whether you owe taxes or not. There's a difference between "not owing taxes" and "not having taxable income".
    - bitshiftfaced 4y ago
      I see. The article was talking about labor shortages, which is why I was assuming we were talking about people who hadn't reentered the workforce yet. > There's a difference between "not owing taxes" and "not having taxable income". You get it whether or not you have taxable income.

ocdtrekkie 4y ago

So... this is pretty hilarious. First of all, you picked an arbitrary four kids to pad out your numbers, but... if each kid costs $1,500 plus a month for childcare, it'd cost $6,000 a month, or $72,000 just for childcare. I get a few thousand of that back as a tax writeoff, but... it's not going to break even. So thanks for the $16,600... by your math I'm still over $50,000 in the hole. I make plenty more than $50k a year, but there's also, you know, rent... food... did you know the cost of natural gas has tripled this year? In the winter it's $400 a month to stave off hypothermia. Second, the child tax credit is... not free money. It's a credit on my taxes, and it's also not new. The only thing that really changed with the child tax credit is that the government allows you to collect it monthly instead of all at once during tax season. Which really just changes the formula between getting a big refund and getting tiny chunks of refund throughout the year. And bear in mind, you have to be bringing in that much taxable income in the first place to actually get anything back. I'm guessing you don't have kids, or you'd have some idea how the math works out on these. But having kids is... not affordable... in the current economy, even if you're making a solid non-Silicon Valley tech salary. The idea that anyone would pay $70 to fill their gas tank, to spend nearly $100 a day on childcare, to do some restaurant job paying $10 an hour is absolutely laughable.

bitshiftfaced 4y ago
A quick search is saying the average US cost of childcare is around $850, but we're talking about a family who's unemployed. Why are we assuming a hypothetical married household is paying for childcare when both parents are unemployed? > And bear in mind, you have to be bringing in that much taxable income in the first place to actually get anything back. The 2021 child tax credit was fully refundable. You get it whether you owe taxes or not.
- ocdtrekkie 4y ago
  > average us cost of childcare is around $850 In Nebraska, maybe. Not here. > we're talking about a family who's unemployed No, I definitely wasn't, and if you were, almost nothing you're speaking of would apply anyways. > You get it whether you owe taxes or not. There's a difference between "not owing taxes" and "not having taxable income".
  - bitshiftfaced 4y ago
    I see. The article was talking about labor shortages, which is why I was assuming we were talking about people who hadn't reentered the workforce yet. > There's a difference between "not owing taxes" and "not having taxable income". You get it whether or not you have taxable income.