Eboni Brown
I am a mother of three—two young adults and one teenager—and a native of the South. I’m a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy and also work for an organization helping marginalized communities tell their stories, focusing on structural change that will have a generational impact for my children and all children. I joined the PAB to represent the population that laws are often made for but who rarely have input on how it affects them. My advice to other parents is to do the best you can. Every child is different and just wants to be loved and cared for.
1. What is something you’re really proud of as a parent?
Being a mom of two sons and a queer daughter, I feel most proud of preparing them for society. My daughter has had run-ins with very bigoted and homophobic people when she’s been out with her partner. But I’ve been so impressed by her response to those experiences, just not letting it affect her in a negative way and being able to come to me to have a conversation about it. And it’s the same with my boys. It’s difficult raising Black boys in America. I’m most proud of raising 3 children who can navigate society in a way that doesn’t affect them negatively or diminish their humanity. I’m proud of their character and for being productive citizens given the current climate.
2. What do you want lawmakers to know about what it’s like raising children and making ends meet in today’s economy?
I want them to know that it’s difficult to navigate. I’ve read a lot of articles and studies about how it is almost impossible to have only one income supporting a household. Unfortunately, a lot of parents are in single-income households. Just trying to balance working full-time and trying to raise your kids while being active in their lives is often very difficult because folks aren’t getting a living wage. You can’t pay your rent or mortgage, and afford groceries, and pay for after school programs and things like that. So it feels like the way society is set up, it’s either the ultra-wealthy or the rest of us who are struggling. There’s nothing in between. And that unfortunately has made it very difficult to raise children and be active in their lives. It almost feels like you have to make a choice, where you either can feed your kids or take time off to see them in a play.
I want lawmakers to know that the way things are structured today, parents often have to make very difficult choices. There’s no way to balance working full-time and being an active parent currently.
3) Why is the Child Tax Credit (CTC) important to you?
I didn’t receive the expanded, monthly CTC back in 2021 because my ex and I have shared custody of my youngest and he was the one to claim our child on the CTC, but I did see how it helped the rest of my family. I became the matriarch in my family after losing both my parents during COVID. I’m the oldest of 4 and there are 10 grandchildren in the family. Because I’m the oldest, my siblings often come to me for help when they are struggling. We collectively make sure that all 10 grandchildren in the family have what they need.
In 2021, when my siblings receive the higher CTC amount as a monthly payment, it made it possible for them to be more financially independent and be able to take care of my nieces and nephews. Receiving the CTC monthly made it easier to not have to pick and choose what their kids actually need, whether it’s groceries, afterschool programs, summer camps, or clothing. For me, it helped me make sure that my nieces and nephews had everything they needed and took the burden off of me financially as well. Now, without the expanded CTC, I do notice more calls from my family needing more help financially because they don’t have as much support as they used to.
4) Why is it important to you that lawmakers expand the Child Tax Credit?
We live in a country that’s so big on family—allegedly. Our children deserve to enjoy being children, but a lot of the time right now, they aren’t. A lot of our kids are surviving off the bare minimum, and we are not investing in their futures. We can’t say “Children are the future,” if we aren’t taking care of them. And it’s not a matter of parents budgeting accurately. As citizens of this country, we’re put into positions where we’re going to war, or there are tariffs that ultimately affect us a lot on the back end. Parents are doing all the things we’re supposed to be doing, but that’s still not enough. As a parent, I really just want my children to enjoy their lives and get to experience their childhood, which is so fleeting.
5) If you had $500 more for each of your children every month, how would you use it?
I would probably do stuff like go to the zoo or go to the movies, just have experiences that enrich his life. Allow him to see what life is. Allowing for my son to experience life at this age. I would also want to be able to give him an allowance so that he can start to understand financial responsibility and how to budget. The rest of it would probably go to utilities, which keep going up.
6) In addition to increasing the benefit level, are there other changes to the CTC that you think are important to ensure children and families can thrive?
Getting it monthly is extremely important. Even if you get the full CTC amount at the start of the year, most people need to use that money to just play catch up and their kids may not see the benefit of that throughout the year.
I also want the CTC to be available for all children. Regardless of how you feel about immigration, children are children. Right now, it feels like the child is being punished for the perceived sins of the parent. But children don’t understand matters of citizenship or immigration status, they just want to play and live. Recently, I read an article about free and reduced lunch that talked about how families should not need to fill out all these forms to eat lunch. If they are a child, they should qualify for it. I know it might not seem that simple, but it can be. In a world where we can have a trillionaire, we should not have hungry children. That should just not be a thing.