The new Annie E. Casey Foundation KIDS COUNT Data Book is out and there is good news and bad news – and a strong recommendation that Congress make the Child Tax Credit expansion permanent. This year’s report found that between 2010 and 2019, children improved nationally in 11 out of 16 areas, essentially stayed the same in four areas, and fell further behind in one area – low birth weights. But the report comes with a major, fundamental caveat: the Foundation warns that nearly a decade of progress after the Great Recession could be erased by the COVID-19 pandemic unless policymakers act boldly to sustain the beginnings of a recovery.
Archives: Voices
CHN’s Podcast Episode 2: A Critical Moment to Reduce Child Poverty.
In our second episode of the Voices for Human Needs Podcast, hear from national policy advocates about what is at stake for children and families, the importance of making the Child Tax Credit expansion permanent, and actions you can take to join the fight to reduce child poverty across the country.
Through the air and on the ground, the campaign for Child Tax Credit awareness takes off
Earlier this week, social media activists, advocates for children and families with low incomes, religious leaders, local and state governments, elected officials and even a few famous celebrities joined the White House in a major, more-or-less coordinated push to publicize the Child Tax Credit (CTC).
CHN: Bipartisan plan on infrastructure should advance – but so should once-in-a-generation investments
“President Biden did the nation a vital service in proposing his American Jobs and Families Plans. Taken together these two plans represent a comprehensive approach to setting our nation on a course of sustainable, shared economic progress. A narrow approach that repairs and modernizes our physical infrastructure without strengthening our people’s health and economic security is not sufficient. It will not provide the resources to enable parents to raise their children out of poverty, for young and older adults to be able to secure good jobs, and for retirees and people with disabilities to be able to live in their communities with the care they need. Nor will it sufficiently address pernicious inequities by race, immigrant status, and income.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship June 25, 2021
The Tale of Two Americas edition. Between 2018 and 2020, COVID-19 forced an unprecedented drop in life expectancy in the U.S. For non-Hispanic whites, the drop was 1.36 years. For Hispanics, it was 3.88 years; the decline was 3.25 years for non-Hispanic Blacks. Still, although the pace of vaccinations for Blacks and Hispanics is improving, in the 40 states keeping records by race, only 33 percent of Blacks and 38 percent of Hispanics have at least one dose, compared to 46 percent of whites.
Monday, June 21 is Child Tax Credit Awareness Day
Beginning July 15, most families with children will begin receiving monthly installments of the newly expanded Child Tax Credit. Families will receive $250 per month for each child age 6 through 17 and $300 per month for children younger than 6. In order to publicize the expansion – and ensure that hard-to-reach families who did not previously file tax forms receive it – the Biden Administration has designated this coming Monday, June 21 – as Child Tax Credit Awareness Day.
In storm’s path: FEMA fielding criticism for racial inequality in disaster aid
As climate change advances, the U.S. is experiencing more drought, more wildfires, more floods. And now it is hurricane season – one year after we witnessed a total of 30 named storms, a record. But the federal agency charged with providing emergency aid and rebuilding assistance to Americans with damaged homes is facing a storm of its own. In recent months, a number of studies have confirmed what housing advocates have known all along: The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) distributes more aid – a lot more, in some cases – to white homeowners than it does to Black homeowners.
CHN’s COVID-19 Watch: Tracking Hardship June 11, 2021
The Build Back Better edition. COVID-19 cases are down and more people are working. But all is not well in America. Staggering numbers remain out of work and now there is emerging evidence, that as Black and brown communities lag behind in vaccinations, COVID-19 could become a disease that overwhelmingly impacts communities of color. Vaccinations – which reached a peak of nearly two million per day in April – have slipped under 400,000 a day, endangering President Biden’s goal of having 70 percent of the country vaccinated by the 4th of July. Fewer than one in four Black Americans have received their first shot.
2021 sets new mark for voter suppression laws; Texas threat still looming
Calendar year 2021 is not even half over – yet we already know that it will set a modern-day record for the number of voter suppression laws passed by state legislatures and enacted into law in one year. Between January 1 and May 14 of this year, 14 states enacted 22 new laws that restrict access to the vote. That breaks a record set in 2011, when – by October of that year – 19 restrictive laws were passed in 14 states.
The Biden Budget: Responsible investments in our future
President Biden’s budget is responsive to our needs and responsible to our future. Instead of ignoring government’s failure for years to maintain and improve the basic building blocks of our economic security, the budget makes investments our nation badly needs.
CHN’s latest Human Needs Report: Special edition examines Biden Administration’s proposed budget
CHN just released a special edition of the Human Needs Report focusing on President Biden’s FY22 budget request. Read on for an overview of the request and details from select government departments that most directly impact people with low incomes.
Emerging from the pandemic: How we place America’s children and families on a path to prosperity
Emerging from the pandemic will neither be easy for America nor for America’s children. Many have experienced hunger and live in households anxious over possible eviction. Many have not been able to learn effectively without adequate access to the internet. Children of color and children in families with low incomes have been disproportionately harmed, sometimes by the deaths of loved ones from COVID-19. But the groundbreaking proposals put forth by the Biden Administration give us hope that America’s children and families will have the resources and programs they need to place them on a path toward recovery and prosperity.