July 27, 2021
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New York Times Publishes Explainer on Child Tax Credit

The revamped Child Tax Credit went into effect this month, with much-needed money being distributed to parents across the country. While this will be a boon for many parents, it also has the potential to create headaches for parents come tax season. Thankfully, the New York Times published helpful suggestions on who should take the credit and who should opt out.

As a reminder, the Child Tax Credit was expanded under the most recent round of stimulus, passed over the winter. The coverage expanded and the total amount went up, to $3,600 per year for each child under 6. The distribution mechanism also changed. Instead of claiming the credit when filing taxes, now parents can receive cash deposits of $300 per month per child. The credit is also now fully refundable, allowing parents to receive the credit even if they owe no taxes.

However, for some households, the Times explains, it can be a good idea to opt out of receiving the direct deposits. For separated parents who share custody, for instance, each parent may alternate years for claiming a dependent. Because the new deposits are based on the 2019 or 2020 tax returns, it may automatically go to the most recent parent to claim a dependent, even if it is the other parent’s year.

Other reasons to opt out include major changes in income, self-employment, and parents who expect large refunds. We will continue to cover the Child Tax Credit as it has the potential to be expanded even more in the coming years.


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Wage Gaps and Cutthroat Culture Highlight Gender Disparity, ABA Report Finds

May 13, 2021
Gender Discrimination
In a new report undertaken by the American Bar Association, several key aspects of the legal profession are causing women attorneys to consider leaving the field. Among the most significant factors are the persistent pay gap based on gender and the hyper-individualistic, competitive nature of the industry, which often pits lawyers against one another, degrading any sense of community workplace culture.

Childcare and Paid Leave Funding Part of $1.8tn “American Families Plan” 

April 29, 2021
Paid Family Leave
In a speech to a joint session of Congress, President Biden unveiled the “The American Families Plan,” the third part of the president’s push to power a post-pandemic recovery. Along with the $1.9 trillion fiscal stimulus and a proposal for an infrastructure plan that would earmark $2.3 trillion to upgrade roads, bridges, railroads, and the country’s aging power grid, the American Families Plan seeks to fund a wide range of initiatives to address deep-lying problems on the job market that the pandemic exposed, and hopefully help the more than 2 million women who left the workforce in 2020 to return.

New Study Finds No Negative Effects in NYS Paid Family Leave 

April 16, 2021
Paid Family Leave
The results of a three-year study conducted by the National Bureau of Economic Research indicated that paid family leave policies do not have a negative effect for employers.

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