3.4 million more kids lived in poverty in February than last December, two months after a monthly check program to parents expired

• Child poverty remains elevated with the end of the enhanced child tax credit.
• A new analysis indicates that child poverty is 38% higher compared to December 2021.
• Manchin sided with the GOP to oppose the benefit and Congress isn’t renewing it anytime soon.

The child poverty rate remained substantially elevated in February compared to December 2021, the end date of the expanded child tax credit.

New research from the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University published Wednesday indicated that 3.4 million more children lived in poverty in February compared to December. That amounts to a 38% increase from the level it stood at the end of last year, or a 4.6 percentage-point increase.

The child poverty rate stood at 16.7% last month compared to 17.0% in January. It represents a modest dip from one month to the next after child poverty spiked due to the end of the temporary advance payment program. In December 2021, it had been at 12.1%.

The child tax credit was expanded for a year under President Joe Biden's stimulus law. It widened its reach to families not obligated to pay taxes and transformed it into a monthly child allowance for the first time. Families could get an annualized payment of $3,000 per kid age 6 to 17 and $3,600 for each child age 5 and under. The benefit amount was previously $2,000.

The monthly check program encountered resistance from Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin, a conservative Democrat from West Virginia. Manchin's opposition to the provision contributed to the demise of the House-approved Build Back Better package carrying the bulk of Biden's healthcare, climate, and education agenda.

Without his vote, Democrats can't sidestep Republicans and approve the package on their own in the 50-50 Senate. There's few signs that Congress will revive it anytime soon and Biden has already conceded he may fail to secure its renewal if Democrats try to revive their spending plans.

Though Republicans blocked the program as part of their opposition to Biden's economic agenda, some don't feel like they're to blame.

"When I look at poverty, I'd like to look before government payments," Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah told Insider on Tuesday. "We can make everybody rich if we just gave everybody a billion dollars, which of course we're not going to do."

He added he wanted to find a way to slash child poverty "without just looking to government to create checks."

A separate study indicated that establishing a permanent enhanced child tax credit would lead to a 1,000% return on investment, Insider's Juliana Kaplan reported. The program would provide $982 billion in social benefits in the form of improved health and stronger earnings over the long run, far outweighing a $97 billion price tag, the paper said.