The 2021 American Rescue Plan included the temporary expansion of the Child Tax Credit (CTC)—the largest individual income tax credit program in the United States—for most families with children. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, how did the public perceive this social policy benefit for families, especially in relation to other traditional social programs? By focusing on the CTC, an understudied policy area, and presenting original survey data, this paper first shows that, while the majority of respondents favored the CTC, levels of support for these benefits were lower than support for other social programs. Second, the paper suggests that, compared to older people and people with disabilities, Americans view families as part of the “undeserving” population. Third, by presenting panel data, we show that there is no change in levels of CTC support even among recipients of these benefits. Overall, these findings shed light on important challenges to the development and implementation of family policy in the USA, as well as the possibility of recalibrating the US liberal welfare state.

中文翻译：

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评估危机时期公众对社会政策的支持：来自美国 COVID-19 时代儿童税收抵免的证据

2021 年美国救援计划包括为大多数有孩子的家庭临时扩大儿童税收抵免 (CTC)——美国最大的个人所得税抵免计划。在 COVID-19 大流行的背景下，公众如何看待这项社会政策对家庭的好处，尤其是与其他传统社会计划相比？通过关注 CTC 这一未被充分研究的政策领域，并提供原始调查数据，本文首先表明，虽然大多数受访者支持 CTC，但对这些福利的支持水平低于对其他社会项目的支持。其次，该论文表明，与老年人和残疾人相比，美国人将家庭视为“不值得”人口的一部分。第三，通过呈现面板数据，我们表明，即使在这些福利的接受者中，CTC 支持水平也没有变化。总体而言，这些发现揭示了美国家庭政策的制定和实施面临的重要挑战，以及重新调整美国自由福利国家的可能性。