child poverty
Child poverty dropped to a record low last year. A new report shows how to keep it that way.
North Carolina is among the states that benefited the most from an expanded Child Tax Credit The expanded child tax credit that families received in 2021 helped reduce child poverty across the country, but particularly in the South where families lack a sufficient safety net, according to a paper released on Wednesday.
Monday numbers: NC’s youth are struggling. State officials say it’s time to get serious about mental health services.
As the North Carolina General Assembly returns to Raleigh this week for the 2023 session, state educators and healthcare providers are issuing an urgent call for improved student access to mental health services. The North Carolina Department of Public Instruction (NCDPI) was recently awarded $17 million in grant funding from the U.S. Department of Education to help student mental health needs in 15 school districts.
Child poverty rates highest in states that haven’t raised minimum wage
Analysis shows that North Carolina remains stuck among the lowest performing states Of the 20 states that have failed to raise the minimum wage above the federal $7.25 an hour standard, 16 have more than 12% of their children living in poverty, according to a States Newsroom analysis of wage and poverty data. Anti-poverty advocates […]
Congress knows how to slash child poverty. It just needs to do it.
It needs to reinstate the enhanced version of the Child Tax Credit, which expired in January If you could prevent millions of children from falling back into poverty, would you? Most of us, I imagine, would answer “yes” without hesitation. But not Congress. For nearly a year, lawmakers in Washington, D.C., have dithered as the […]
Child poverty estimates point to a record low in 2021 – here’s how it could have been even lower
The U.S. government will likely report in September 2022 that for 2021 its most accurate measure of child poverty was the lowest on record. This was due, in large part, to generous government benefits. Our research suggests child poverty in 2021 would have been even lower had the government made it easier for families to receive these benefits.
Today’s enhanced monthly Child Tax Credit payment could be the last that families receive unless Congress acts to extend this successful policy
Today marks the sixth round of Child Tax Credit (CTC) payments going out to an estimated 1.2 million families in North Carolina, supporting the well-being of nearly two million children in the state. The temporary improvements to the CTC under the American Rescue Plan increased funding available to families, expanded eligibility by making the credit […]
‘Must read’ report: The persistent and pervasive challenge of child poverty and hunger in North Carolina
Sometimes we get used to things we should never get used to. North Carolina countenances extraordinary levels of child hunger and poverty. For perspective, the United States, tragically, lets more of its citizens, especially its kids, live in wrenching poverty than almost any advanced, democratic nation. The United Nations rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights has decried the “shockingly high number of children living in poverty in the United States.” The U.S. has, by far, the highest child poverty rate among peer nations.
Expanded Child Tax Credit has caused big reductions in childhood poverty, but more action is needed
Last week on Sept. 15, the third round of payments for the newly expanded federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) went out to millions of families with children across the country. The CTC is one of the nation’s key anti-poverty programs, and the American Rescue Plan Act made some important — but temporary — changes to […]
The expanded federal child tax credit is helping families. Congress is debating its future.
Like millions of women, Sarah Anderson saw her income drop during the pandemic when her two part-time jobs ended and caring for her four children and supervising online school consumed her days. The federal child tax credit helped fill the gap left by that lost income. Parents started receiving monthly payments of $250 to $300 for each child on July 15 and will do so through December.
Homeless students slipping through the cracks during the pandemic, congressional panel told
WASHINGTON — Witnesses before a U.S. House panel on Wednesday advised lawmakers on how federal relief aid can help bridge educational gaps among children who are homeless and in foster care during the pandemic. “While housing is critical, housing alone does not close the educational gap faced by students who have experienced homelessness,” Jennifer Erb-Downward, […]