U.S. Childhood Poverty Rate Doubles Since Last Year
Are we doing enough to address poverty?
What's the story?
- The U.S. Census Bureau's annual data on poverty, income, and health insurance found that the poverty rate in the U.S. has risen drastically since pandemic benefits ended.
- Most notably, childhood poverty has more than doubled since last year, jumping from 5.2% to 12.4%.
How did this happen?
- Many are pointing to the American Rescue Plan's pandemic-era extensions ending, which gave parents credit for their children and significantly reduced the poverty rate. The American Rescue Plan provides child tax credits based on income levels — the more you make, the more you get. The plan upped payments to $3,600 for each child under six and $3,000 for each child aged 6-17 for lower- and middle-income families.
- The provisions in the Rescue Plan reduced the childhood poverty rate by nearly 10 points in 2021, lifting almost 3 million children out of poverty. When pandemic relief ended, millions of families lost out on a source of income and stopped earning the extra credit.
- Sharon Parrott, president of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said:
"We sometimes talk about the child tax credit as being an upside down policy. That's because the children who need it the most get the least, while higher income children get more."
- Parents reported using the extra tax credit money on rent, food, and other household essentials. Surveys found that many parents had immediate trouble paying bills and covering basic expenses once the benefits ended, especially with inflation rising.
The response
- Democrats are pushing to bring back the expanded child tax credit in broader tax negotiations taking place this fall. Several Republicans are also working the credit into their own proposals, but mainly on a smaller scale.
- Action has been taken at the state level as well. Adam Ruben, from the Economic Security Project, said:
"The surge of energy that we've seen across many states, Democratic and Republican states alike, to boost tax credits, to provide economic security for families this year, has been stunning."
- Biden has consistently called on Congress to restore the Child Tax Credit to preserve national progress toward ending child poverty.
- In response to the poverty rates, Renee Ryberg, senior research scientist at research organization Child Trends, said:
"Ensuring that children have their basic needs met is the bare minimum of what we can and should do. The payoff for the health and wellbeing of our nation's children and for our society as a whole is immeasurable."
Are we doing enough to address poverty?
-Jamie Epstein & Emma Kansiz
(Photo credit: iStock/shironosov)
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Safety & Security
Debt ceiling negotiations kicked many off social safety net programs (Medicaid, SNAP) that were covered during the pandemic (2020, 2021) but discontinued in 2022 by a Republican House majority which accounts for the majority of the cost of living increases many in the US experienced. This is what "sunsetting" looks like and will happen to many more social safety net programs if it is adopted for budget management as proposed by Rick Scott (R-FL).
"As debt ceiling negotiations come down to the wire with the 1 June deadline looming, some Republican leaders seem determined to use critical safety net programs – specifically, Medicaid and Snap – as a bargaining chip, and millions of America’s most vulnerable families may pay the price."
"Cuts and restrictions to these essential programs, which offer healthcare and food assistance, will cause further hardship to families who are already struggling – and who in many cases can’t afford the basic essentials like food and shelter. The Republican fixation on appending work requirements to these benefits are also ineffective: data shows these policies are not needed and don’t produce any substantial solutions. Some critics say they also force people to find jobs that don’t actually lead to economic mobility, prolonging their need for federal assistance."
"In 2020 and 2021, most households also received Economic Impact Payments (EIP) that were no longer issued in 2022."
https://www.businessinsider.com/mitch-mcconnell-slams-rick-scott-plan-sunset-social-security-medicare-2023-2?amp
https://home.treasury.gov/policy-issues/coronavirus/assistance-for-american-families-and-workers/economic-impact-payments
https://www.census.gov/library/stories/2023/09/median-household-income.html
https://amp.theguardian.com/us-news/2023/may/24/republican-debt-ceiling-proposals-benefits-loss-medicaid-snap
You can thank all Republicans who voted not to renew the Rescue plan which brought children and families out of poverty. Republicans who are pro-life, I mean pro-birth!!!
I wish Republicans stopped treating woman as breeders and children as chattel. You can't even provide the basic necessities for the next generation of workers bees, much less give them a world-class education, healthy food, and adequate shelter.
Poverty rates are up in major part because we are letting in millions of illegal imigrants, who live in poverty. Reduce poverty, close the boarder.
Poverty is not a problem the government is able to solve, as evidenced by over 50 years of attempts and gobs of money. In spite of all this, poverty has actually increased.
Education, strong families, strong community are more successful at fighting poverty than income redistribution.
Giving money to the poor is only a short term fix. The long term solution is teaching work ethic, career skills, family planning, and budgeting. "Giving a man a fish feeds him for a day. Teaching a man to fish feeds him for a lifetime."
This has only gotten worse because Republicans refuse to take care of children and make excuses every day for forcing women to have children with no plan to feed or care for these children.
We have a real problem in this country, the richest country in the world, when we cannot afford to feed, clothe, and house our children and there is a large group of people in power who call themselves "Christian" but refuse to acknowlege we have problems or to do anything about this.
But hey, spending more money on the military is always going to make us better, right?
Want to decrease poverty?
Cut taxes.
Better yet, slash the entire IRS.
Eliminate regulations (and regulatory agencies!) that hurt citizens and have no positive contribution.
Stop sending our money and resources to other countries while our kids and elderly and vets (and lots of other people too, for that matter) lack food, shelter, and other necessities.
Even "middle-class" families with two full-time white-collar incomes are struggling to just make ends meet. But when the government demands a huge slice out of the pie, there's a lot less to go around.
Maybe if biden hadn't let millions of children through the border
As long as we allow this Admin to continue committing TREASON with the Borders and other Insane Acts We will never put a dent in Poverty. The Admin continues to do Everything Wrong and GOP Politicians Still can not find enough DINO's to make Common Sense Changes to improve our Country. It is not enough to point fingers and hope the 2024 election goes the GOP way!!! So, get Smart and Get Busy!!!!
GOD Bless The USA
People need to work for self esteem and for hope of the future
they don't need entitlements from
government.
Welfare for long periods seed poverty,
it does not reduce poverty.
poverty the very result of too much government intervention.
Evidentially those GOP "PRO LIFERS" were in reality "PRO BIRTH ONLY !!
Even with Bidenomics? Surely you jest.Why just yesterday I saw Joe on TV telling me how great things were.
What about all the pro-life republicans? Doesn't that mean keeping people, especially children alive and healthy?
We can't handle poverty until we address excessive wealth.
As long as Republicans run states and Congress, those only making minimum wage will be in trouble, for the Republicans do not believe in helping the poor in America. They only believe in helping those that give them money! With the increase in price for everything, their is no way these families can make ends meet! Many even work 2 jobs or more, and still can't make ends meet. As to the price increases, this is due to Corporate greed! In true Capitalism, prices increase because of shortages, and there doesn't seem to be any real shortages to cause this! When the Supreme Court passed Citizens United, they were in total VIOLATION of our Constitution! No Corporation can ever be a "Person" and do not get the rights of citizens! Passing Citizens United told Corporations they could do as they pleased, as long as they gave political parties money! I've seen clearly that the Republican Party only represents those that give them money, and since most of us can't give them lots of money, we don't count! They don't seem to have any idea of what our Constitution says, even though they took an OATH to follow and protect the Constitution! I now believe that every member of Congress needs to take our citizenship test before taking office, since the citizenship test asks questions about the Constitution! There is no place for Party Politics in the Constitution, yet Congress thinks there is! As long as our government runs this way, the poor will suffer, and so will seniors! It is imperative that Citizens United be reversed, as it is a total violation of the Constitution. The alt. right religious group that runs our country now, used this plan. They gave the Republican Party, who they felt would be the easiest to manipulate lots of money, and our Country can see what this hgas caused! I guess the GOP forgot about the "Seperation of Church and State!" We have the first Amendment of the Constitution because many of the first people who created this country, came here for religious freedom. I guess the GOP forgot that as well! It's past time Congress removed Citizens United, since a business can't be a "Citizen!"
Make it make sense. GQP passed laws to stop abortion, want to pass a law to tell women they can not go to another state for an abortion, want women to stay home and take care of the children (some were force to have), and do not think that women ( minorities or anyone who is not fully represented) should receive equal pay, and refused to pass laws to decrease the frequency of guns especially semi automatic (but you can go to another state to purchase the guns) to prevent school shootings.
Let the kids live in poverty because it is God's will.
No, God gives us resources so we can make our lives better.
No we are not. The GOP controlled House voted to rescind the Child Tax Credit and plunged children back into poverty. Two years ago, The GOP voted to strip children of medical benefits and in my state of PA Mike Kelly voted to even strip away money and benefits for the children in the Foster Care system in PA. This was done the week of Christmas-nothing like kicking Tiny Tim's Crutches out from him as a Christmas Gift!
The GOP screams about unborn children, and then turns around and stips living children of medical care, food (SNAP And WIC programs) Education and any medical benefits they might need, and now they want them to work in dangerous jobs and not be able to sue if they are maimed, injured, or killed. Nor will their families be allowed to sue.
Not too concerned about children, are they?
The rich get richer and the poor get poorer.
when you cut a states funding to social services, keep wages below a living wage, and engage in union busting- poverty is the result.
I grew up in poverty in the 80s under the Reagan regime. As a kid in grade school with a single working mother, I never had breakfast or lunch, and school provided nothing to low income children. As a result, I found it very hard to focus. Its hard to learn when your starving, or worried about where you will be sleeping that night.
where is the outrage from the ''pro life '' crowd?
Child poverty was addressed in Biden's Inflation Reduction Act, when it expired child poverty doubled. When Biden tried to get it extended almost all the Republicans voted it down. Every other developed country in the world takes better care of their children.
Please take care of Americans in poverty first! Stop the masses coming into America across our border taking food out of our citizens mouths!!
What's worse is that Congress undid part of what we were doing.
Take the money from the billionaires. I am not sure why this is so hard. If all the money is a cake and a few people get all of the cake except some crumbs, society shouldn't start stabbing each other with their forks for what is left. But that is exactly what we're doing while the billionaires laugh and eat the cake, because they sure as fuck ain't sharing it. Billionaires shouldn't exist.
Everyone deserves enough to eat, Healthcare and safe place to live. The gop cut cut and more cuts do not address this.
We need a NATIONAL minimum wage, set so that it automatically increases when the inflation rate increases. And we need a maximum wage for CEO's. They should be paid only a certain multiplier of their lowest paid employee, depending on the number of employees they directly supervise.When a CEO makes an HOURLY wage that is higher than their employees' yearly wage, that is criminal!!
We're doing enough to make the rich, richer. That's about it.
The US isn't doing enough for the homeless people