A temporary, pandemic-era expansion of the Child Tax Credit improved housing affordability for families with low incomes, according to University of Michigan research. The study by Natasha Pilkauskas and Katherine Michelmore, associate professors of public policy, and Nicole Kovski, a former U-M postdoctoral fellow now at the University of Wisconsin, found that parents who got the monthly credit were less likely to owe past-due rent or mortgage payments and they were less likely to need to move because they couldn’t afford their housing. It also allowed parents to gain residential independence from partners they were living with and reduce the number of people residing in their household, likely decreasing household crowding.