Congress must tackle child poverty head on and expand the Child Tax Credit
The Census Bureau just released national poverty, income, and insurance data for 2023. It’s important to understand income and health insurance trends, but it’s especially important now since Congress will take up major tax legislation in 2025.
One thing we know for sure is that when the Child Tax Credit (CTC) was expanded in 2021, child poverty decreased by 46% overall, with Black and Hispanic/Latino child poverty falling by 6.3 percentage points in each community, impacting 716,000 Black children and 1.2 million Hispanic children. The new data shows that in 2023, the CTC lifted 2.4 million people above the federal poverty line―while important, falling far short of the 5.4 million lifted above the federal poverty line in 2021 by expanded monthly Child Tax Credit payments that included all children in low-income families.
Many people are facing food and housing insecurity, challenges with high child care costs, and dealing with other hardships that make it harder to make ends meet. Expanding the Child Tax Credit fixes a major flaw in current law: over 18 million children and their families are excluded from the full credit because their parents’ income is too low.
You read that right. Families where a parent can’t work due to illness or being laid off, cannot qualify for the Child Tax Credit at all. And many parents who work at low wages cannot get the full CTC. A single parent earning $15,000 a year and who has two children, will receive less than a family with a parent who has a higher paying job. This is a flaw that does nothing but exacerbate inequity and accelerate the racial wealth gap.
Instead of cutting investments in key programs and services, Congress must prioritize funding for human needs and that means passing an expanded Child Tax Credit that reaches the very poorest households.
The XBB.1.5 edition. New COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths are on the rise in many parts of the country. Hospitalizations in particular are at the highest level they’ve been in almost 11 months. Some of this increase was anticipated due to the aftermath of the holidays – a time when many family members and friends gather indoors. But the increase in caseloads is also due to the rapid emergence of XBB.1.5, which is more transmissible than any other omicron subvariant we’ve seen so far.
On January 5, 2023, the Biden Administration announced new border enforcement measures aimed at increasing security at the border and reducing the number of individuals crossing unlawfully. The first policy announced is two-fold: it includes a new pathway for Cubans, Haitians, and Nicaraguans with the requirement of having U.S.- based sponsors to enter the United States. But also announced is an expansion of Title 42, a policy that allows for the rapid expulsion of individuals back to those same countries without the opportunity to apply for asylum.
Have you ever had to choose between phoning your sick mother or brushing your teeth? How about between wearing shoes or calling your favorite niece to sing happy birthday? I’ve had to make these decisions before, and I don’t wish it on anyone — and that’s because I was once incarcerated.
When one thinks of January 6, one remembers the tragic and awful events of two years ago at our nation’s Capitol – anarchy and chaos and insurrection. Democracy bent that day but did not break. But there is another January 6 that plays a role in our country’s history – a day that contributes seminally and in an aspirational sense to the molding of our character as a nation.
This year could be key for efforts to expand Medicaid coverage in 11 “non-expansion” states as increased public pressure is converging with key state Republican leaders changing their mind on the issue and softening their opposition.
Human needs advocates have yet to unpack every last detail included in the recently approved fiscal year 2023 appropriations package, which Congress passed shortly before recessing for the December holidays. The legislation, which when introduced was 4,155 pages in length, includes several hard-fought measures for pregnant workers and new moms that please labor and health care advocates.
The House has enacted the omnibus spending bill, 225 to 201. Ten Republicans joined 215 Democrats. One Democrat (reported to be Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez) joined 200 Republicans in opposing. So it will go to President Biden for his signature, and the 118th Congress will convene in January. Your unflagging work led to gains for people who need help, and protected people from hardship. It is a privilege to have the chance to work with you, learn from you, and amplify your voices.
In 2021, according to the USDA’s Economic Research Service, 33 million Americans lived in food-insecure households. That number was actually a drop from the year before, due to the expanded Child Tax Credit and other pandemic relief programs. But in 2022, hunger in America was again on the rise, after Congress refused to extend the CTC expansion past December 2021.
Senate and House negotiators managed to include some important initiatives in the omnibus end-of-year funding package that will help millions of people withstand hunger and receive health care. More people will get help with home heating or cooling, urgently needed as temperatures plummet and home energy costs rise. There are increases for Head Start and child care. But because of the intransigence of Minority Leader McConnell and some in his caucus, a lot of good that could have been done for people nationwide was thwarted, and some of the good that was included was there only because other cuts were imposed. This is a Grinch-y approach to the nation’s needs.
The appropriations edition. During the next few days, leaders in Congress will try to hammer out an agreement on an omnibus appropriations bill for FY 2023. We don’t yet know the total for domestic funding, or how specific programs will fare. But there is one thing we do know, and we know it emphatically. We know that for the past 12 years, human needs programs have been starved of funding – and now, Congress has an opportunity to address this.
For the past few months, Voices for Human Needs has reported on renewed efforts throughout the U.S. to urge Congress to once again expand the Child Tax Credit. As Congress rushes to complete its work before year’s end, the expansion efforts have increased in volume and urgency. Over the past weeks, CHN has worked in an additional seven states with local leaders, children’s advocates and frontline service providers to explain to the public the tremendous need and rationale for an expanded CTC.
A report released Thursday by prominent human needs advocacy groups warns that unless Congress takes action, 15 million people could lose Medicaid coverage after the Biden Administration ends the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency. The report was co-issued by the Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum, the Coalition on Human Needs, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, the NAACP, the National Urban League, and UnidosUS.
