CPSP researchers highlight poverty spike among new mothers and show how a ‘birth grant’ can help
In a new research note in Demography, CPSP researchers highlight the high poverty rates new mothers face and the need for public programs to do more to protect them. A companion policy brief models the anti-poverty effects of a one-time $1,800 cash birth grant to mothers and shows that this could nearly eradicate poverty among mothers in the month of their child’s birth.
One Year On: What we know about the expanded Child Tax Credit
Since the introduction of the first monthly Child Tax Credit payment in July 2021, a continuous stream of research has emerged tracking the impact of this new policy on the lives of children and their families. This round up compiles the range of publicly available information on what we know so far.
Child allowances are a winning investment
The United States does not currently guarantee income support universally to families with children. Research finds that cash and near-cash benefits increase children’s health, education, and future earnings while also decreasing costs with respect to health, child protection, and criminal justice. Despite the initial costs, we find that child allowances are a winning investment in our children’s future mobility.
When anti-poverty programs don’t keep up with inflation, families are left behind
The Child Tax Credit and many other government benefits don’t currently increase with inflation. Policy indexation, an often overlooked aspect of policy design, would fix this.
Tax credits give income boost, but regular monthly cash payments would reduce poverty year round
The tax filing season is an important one for many families as it provides meaningful boosts to family income and a temporary dip in monthly poverty rates. However, in recent research we find that regular monthly cash payments would help reduce poverty year round.
The Black-White child poverty gap persists. Can we close it?
This policy brief examines the role of government transfers and tax credits in closing the Black-White child poverty gap. We find that government transfers and tax credits are effective in raising incomes for Black children in poverty, yet are entirely ineffective in closing the Black-White child poverty gap.
3.7 million more children in poverty in Jan 2022 without monthly Child Tax Credit
Without the monthly Child Tax Credit, the child poverty rate increased from 12.1 percent in December 2021 to 17 percent in January 2022, the highest rate since the end of 2020.
What we know from the first 6 months of the expanded Child Tax Credit
Since the introduction of the first monthly Child Tax Credit payment in July 2021, a continuous stream of research has emerged tracking the impact of this new policy on the lives of children and their families. This round up compiles the range of publicly available information on what we know so far.
Expanding access to housing vouchers could cut poverty
This fact sheet presents estimates of the anti-poverty impacts that expanding the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program could have if the program were transformed so that all households eligible for a voucher would receive one. The Section 8 voucher program is the nation’s largest form of rental assistance, but only about a quarter of households that are eligible for the vouchers receive the benefit.
The American Families Plan is an opportunity to sustain poverty reduction
This fact sheet provides an analysis of the poverty reduction effects of a set of policy elements in President Biden’s proposed American Families Plan.
The American Rescue Plan could cut child poverty by more than half
This fact sheet projects annual poverty rates for 2021 under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, legislation to provide economic relief amidst the ongoing COVID-19 crisis. Our analysis reveals a relief package containing enhanced Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, unemployment benefits, family and child care tax credits, as well as direct cash payments could cut child poverty by more than half in 2021.
2020: A Year in Review
The COVID-19 pandemic created an ongoing economic crisis that has highlighted the strengths and shortfalls of our social policy and programs. Our expertise in measuring poverty and our work on income support has been especially salient in 2020. We also established a novel method of forecasting poverty throughout the COVID-19 crisis to help inform policy decisions in real-time. We released research on cash assistance, the Child Tax Credit, the impact of policy interventions and poverty projections during the COVID-19 crisis, and the state of poverty in New York City.
Monthly poverty will spike without CARES Act unemployment benefits
This report projects monthly poverty rate estimates for January 2021. It examines poverty in the U.S. depending on whether or not pandemic-related federal unemployment assistance continues past December 2020. We find that if the remaining unemployment provisions of the CARES Act expire at the end of 2020, the number of people in poverty in January 2021 will increase by approximately 4.8 million.
Parental unemployment reaches historic highs during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to high rates of unemployment and hardship for families with children with potential long-term consequences for child well-being and development. Urgent policy action is likely needed to prevent long-lasting, detrimental effects on child well-being and development.
Monthly poverty rates in the United States during COVID-19
This report presents monthly poverty rates in the U.S. before and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. In contrast to measures of poverty based on a family’s annual resources, we project monthly poverty rates based on a family’s monthly resources. We find that the monthly poverty rate increased from 15% to 16.7% from February to September 2020.
The CARES Act could reduce poverty to pre-crisis levels if access is adequate
In response to rapidly rising unemployment rates, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which included nearly $500 billion in direct income transfers for families across the country. In this brief, we apply new forecasting methods to project the effect of the CARES Act’s income transfers on poverty rates.
Poverty in the United States could reach highest level in over 50 years
To what extent will the COVID-19 pandemic increase levels of poverty in the United States? In this brief, we apply a novel method for forecasting poverty rates in the United States using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) framework with a goal of providing projections of poverty rates throughout the COVID-19 crisis.