For children to thrive, they need to have their basic needs met. When needs go unmet, children’s opportunities are compromised. The Census Bureau estimates that 12.4 percent of children were living below the poverty line in 2022, a tremendous jump from the 5.2 percent of children living in poverty in 2021. The jump in child poverty from 2021 to 2022 was largely driven by the expiration of policies enacted in the American Rescue Plan Act, including an expanded child tax credit. The expanded child tax credit was a powerful tool for reducing child poverty and related hardships because it delivered the full benefit of the credit to families with very low incomes.