The Role of Government Transfers in the Black-White Child Poverty Gap

Extensive progress has been made in the fight against child poverty over the past several decades, due in large part to government policies. However, there has been little headway made in narrowing the Black-White child poverty gap. In 1970, Black children were more than three times as likely to live in poverty than White children and the gap is nearly as large today. Our latest brief takes a close look at the role that government transfers played in narrowing the Black-White child poverty gap immediately prior to the COVID-19 pandemic (i.e., the disparity in poverty rates between Black children and White children).

The Black-White child poverty gap is often used as a tool to understand racial inequality in the U.S., and the size and persistence of the Black-White child poverty gap speaks to how deeply embedded racism is in our socioeconomic system. It also calls us to evaluate the role that social policy plays in closing it.

Key Findings 

• Government transfers and tax credits are effective in equalizing incomes of Black and White children in poverty, yet are entirely ineffective in closing the Black-White child poverty gap.  

•  Black children are nearly three times as likely to live in poverty than White children, both before and after accounting for government transfers and tax credits.

• Government transfers and tax credits impact Black and White children in poverty differently: in-kind transfers disproportionately benefit Black children while cash transfers and tax credits disproportionately reduce poverty and raise incomes for White children.