In 2025, Urban helped focus attention on practical pathways for expanding the child tax credit (CTC), a major source of cash assistance for families with low incomes.

Following passage of the budget reconciliation bill, Urban’s tax policy experts met with advocates from different points on the ideological spectrum to assess opportunities for impact. These conversations informed the design of an influential analysis showing that the final bill shifted tax benefits for children toward middle- and high-income families. We also updated an earlier analysis that provides data on five leading options for expanding the CTC for low-income families.

This work resonated with a number of groups including RESULTS, a national grassroots organization that highlights solutions capable of attracting bipartisan support. RESULTS featured our research in advocacy materials (PDF) and in conversations with the office of Indiana Senator Todd Young as he considered whether to champion new bipartisan legislation to expand the CTC.

Early in 2026, Senator Young joined Senator Maggie Hassan in sponsoring the Stronger Start for Working Families Act, which adopts one of the CTC expansion options highlighted by Urban experts. The bill would allow working families to begin receiving the CTC with the first dollar they earn. According to Urban research cited in Senators Hassan and Young’s press release announcing the bill, this change would provide an average benefit of almost $300 to 3.5 million families that receive no support from the current CTC.

In addition to RESULTS, several organizations supporting this bill—including American Compass, America Forward, BPC Action, Niskanen Center, Third Way, and grassroots organizations in Indiana and other states—are drawing on Urban’s CTC findings in their work.