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With each party trying to outdo the other on family-friendliness, the popular child tax credit has become a major point of contention in this year’s presidential election.

Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee, has made increasing the child tax credit a central part of her recently released four-part program to reduce costs for American families, which also includes measures to improve housing, food and prescription drug affordability. She wants to restore the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021’s increased tax credit of up to $3,600 per child, which was in effect for only one year, and create a $6,000 tax credit for newborns.

Meanwhile, Senator JD Vance of Ohio, the Republican vice presidential candidate who has repeatedly claimed that Democrats are anti-family, told CBS News earlier this month that he would like to increase the child tax credit to $5,000 per child – but he would first have to see how “feasible” that would be in Congress. Former President Donald Trump, a top vote-getter whose daughter Ivanka successfully lobbied for an expansion of the tax credit during his first term, indicated in a separate interview with CBS News this month that he supports a generous child tax credit.

“Campaigners are looking for popular and populist measures,” says Josh McCabe, director of social policy at the Niskanen Center, a right-leaning think tank. He notes that increasing the child tax credit is the easiest to sell to voters. And the tax credit is not limited to a specific need, as is the case with the child care tax credit, for example. “Families see the child tax credit as an opportunity to spend it on whatever they want.”

Vance and Democrats also clashed over the credit, with the vice presidential candidate falsely claiming that Harris wanted to repeal the credit and Democrats attacking him for missing a recent vote that would have temporarily expanded the credit.

Whoever wins the White House will have to deal with the child tax credit next year, as it is set to return to a maximum of $1,000 in 2026, rather than the current $2,000 limit created by the Republicans’ Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. The credit is one of many provisions of the income tax law that will expire at the end of 2026. Next year.

What you need to know about the child allowance:

The child tax credit, which about 46 million families claim in 2022, was approved by a Republican-led Congress and signed into law in 1997 by then-President Bill Clinton, a Democrat. It was a relatively modest tax credit for middle-income families designed to help ease the financial burden of having children, said Margot Crandall-Hollick, a senior research associate at the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center.

“The child allowance is attractive for families and therefore also for politicians,” she said, pointing out that in 2022 almost 90% of families with children will receive the allowance.

Originally, the tax credit of up to $500 per child was nonrefundable, meaning parents had to earn enough to pay federal income taxes to qualify, but it was gradually phased out for single people earning over $75,000 and married couples earning over $110,000.

Since then, the tax credit has been increased in several ways, including up to $2,000. Plus, it’s now partially refundable, so lower-income families can get at least some of the tax credit as long as they earn at least $2,500, even if they don’t owe federal income tax. And more higher-income households are eligible, as the tax credit is now being phased out for single parents earning $200,000 and married couples earning twice that.

But all that changes starting in 2026, when the $1,000 maximum credit amount and lower phase-out thresholds will be reinstated if Congress doesn’t act. Additionally, low-income families would have to earn at least $3,000 to qualify.

What the candidates want to do

By restoring the American Rescue Plan’s extensions, Harris would significantly increase the child tax credit and make it accessible to millions more low-income families through full refunds.

The Covid-19 pandemic relief bill increased payments for low- and middle-income families for 2021 to up to $3,600 for each child up to age 6 and to a maximum of $3,000 for each child ages 6 to 17. Also, for the first time, half of the credit was paid out in monthly installments from July to December of this year to help families cover their expenses, while parents could claim the other half when filing their 2021 taxes.

The improvement nearly halved the child poverty rate in 2021, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, helping 2.1 million children escape poverty — although the rate returned to roughly pre-pandemic levels the following year.

Harris would also create a $6,000 tax credit for children in their first year to cover costs such as car seats and diapers. She did not set an income limit for the tax credit.

“There’s another way I’m going to help families deal with rising costs, and that’s by allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned money,” Harris said recently in a speech introducing her economic program, which her campaign says will provide tax relief to more than 100 million Americans.

Vance, on the other hand, has not disclosed details of the credit increase, but said on CBS News’ “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan” that the $5,000 credit should be widely available.

“I don’t think you want these massive cuts to low-income families that are in place now,” he said. “You don’t want a different policy for higher-income families. You just want a family-friendly child tax credit.”

When Trump was asked in a separate interview with CBS News whether he supported an increase in the credit to $5,000, floated by his running mate, the former president said he was in favor of “maxing it out” but stressed that it would have to be negotiated in Congress.

The cost of expanding the credit is a point of contention among lawmakers as the national debt continues to rise. Harris’ proposal could add about $1.2 trillion to the budget deficit over the next decade, while Vance’s idea could cost between $2 trillion and $3 trillion over that time period, said Marc Goldwein, senior policy director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. He noted that estimates could change as the candidates release more details about their proposals.

President Joe Biden and Democrats in Congress have tried unsuccessfully to extend the 2021 expansion or pass a smaller increase. Senate Republicans killed a bill earlier this month that would have given a larger credit to low-income families while restoring some tax benefits for businesses. The bill won bipartisan approval in the House earlier this year.