Child Welfare

In addition to those $1,400 stimulus checks that have started landing in bank accounts, most American parents will also soon begin receiving monthly checks of up to $300 per child under the age of 17 living at home. Those payments are due to kick in this summer and last for a year, but Democrats in Congress hope to see them become permanent. Meanwhile, a lot of Republicans worry the payments will just encourage parents to work less. Greg Duncan is a leading expert on the economics of child poverty and a distinguished professor in the school of education at the University of California, Irvine.