Brief
December 23, 2022
Primary tasks
Overview
In 2021, the American Rescue Plan Act (ARP) expanded the child tax credit and automatically sent payments to eligible families based on tax returns filed in 2019 or 2020. One group not automatically enrolled were first-time mothers. In this brief we examine survey results of new mothers who participated in the Nurse-Family Partnership ® (NFP) to better understand how new mothers interacted with the tax system. We find that trusted messengers and access to tax-filing assistance helped new mothers better access benefits. Although our results are based on a new collaboration during a unique period, the collaboration between the National Service Office of the Nurse-Family Partnership and Child First and Let’s Get Set (LGS) led to an increase in new mothers filing tax returns, and for those filing, families receiving larger refunds and being more likely to use free tax-filing services than those not informed about Let’s Get Set.
Research Area
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