A survey was developed to establish (1) baseline tax filing behavior and claims of the Child Tax Credit (CTC) in 2019 and 2020 by eligible families, (2) how these families plan to use tax refunds, and (3) families’ awareness of the advance CTC and opportunities for signing up. IPSOS polled a nationally representative sample of 1,031 households with children under 18 with incomes below $150,000 in the first two weeks of July, prior to initial distribution of advance CTC payments by the IRS.

The survey was designed in consultation with researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, by Children’s Defense Fund, Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP), Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP), National Women’s Law Center (NWLC), Prosperity Now, and the Urban Institute-Brookings Institution Tax Policy Center.