What’s behind the Spike in Child’s Poverty?

• The number of Children living in poverty in the United States more than doubled in 2022, going from 5.2 percent of children living in poverty in 2021 to 12.4 percent or about 9 million children living in poverty. 

• Part of the rise can be attributed to inflation, but advocates for children say the leap was particularly stark for kids and completely avoidable.

• Advocates for Children say that Lawmakers have the power to lift millions of Women and Children out of poverty if they would just choose to prioritize families over their wealthy donors. 

• The expiration of the enhanced version of Child Tax Credit program(CTC) that had been instituted in 2021 as a means of defraying the financial burden that stay-at-home measures had imposed on parents has expired. The CTC gave parents a historicallyhigh yearly tax credit of up to$3,600 per child, depending on age, which was often paid upfront monthly and did not have to be paid back if the parents’ tax bill didnt reach a certain amount. 

• The Child Tax Credit, making it fully refundable and expanding it to all individuals, had a substantial decrease in child poverty. 

• The data shows that once again, poverty in our country isn’t a personal failing, but rather a policy choice. 

• Poverty affects every aspect of a  Child’s life. Education, health, nutrition, and etc; has negative consequences which affect all of these areas, and also areas such as child abuse and homelessness. 

• U.S Cenus figures also show that the number of Americans not covered by health insurance had stayed steady among all age groups except Children. The shrinkage of Medicaid coverage and making it harder to access childcare have created enough issues that it seems to be stirring up bipartisan support in expanding such programs.