Children left behind by the H.R.1 Child Tax Credit: By Congressional District in the 119th Congress

Children Left Behind by the H.R.1 Child Tax Credit: By Congressional District in the 119th Congress

The Child Tax Credit provides families in the United States with up to $2,000 per child to help them with the costs of raising children. But two central elements of the credit’s design—its refundability structure and earnings requirement—lead families to need a certain level of income to qualify for the full $2,000 per child credit. These two elements leave low- and moderate-income families less likely to qualify fully for the credit. Under current policy, roughly 17 million children—or 1 in 4 children in the United States—are left behind according to this definition. Under H.R.1, the House version of the budget reconciliation bill passed in May 2025, the federal Child Tax Credit would increase to a maximum of $2,500 per child. However, the bill makes no changes to the other central elements of the credit that tie the credit amount that a family receives to its income level. As a result, the minimum income required to be eligible for the full credit increases, making it more difficult for children in low- and moderate-income families to access the full credit. In prior analysis, we found the share of children left behind by the Child Tax Credit under H.R.1 increases to 1 in 3 children nationwide. Our previous analysis also presents the shares of children left behind by demographic groups and by state. Here, we examine how many children in each Congressional district in the 119th Congress may be ineligible for the full Child Tax Credit under H.R.1.

Access the Data

Key Findings

  • The five Congressional districts in the 119th Congress with the highest share of children left behind by the Child Tax Credit outlined in H.R.1 include: NY-15 (61%), TX-34 (61%), TX-39 (57%), MI-13 (56%), and CA-37 (55%).

  • The five Congressional districts in the 119th Congress with the greatest number of children left behind by the Child Tax Credit outlined in H.R.1 include: TX-34 (132,000), CA-22 (113,000), TX-29 (111,000), TX-28 (104,000) and TX-15 (104,000).

Suggested Citation:

Center on Poverty and Social Policy. 2025. Children left behind by the H.R.1 Child Tax Credit: by Congressional district in the 119th Congress.

Related: Children left behind by the H.R.1 Child Tax Credit.

Published on June 11, 2025