Child poverty is a solvable problem when there is the political will to address it.
No child should be denied the chance for a bright future based on their family’s hardship. Child poverty is a moral and economic crisis in the U.S. that affects each and every one of us. Our child poverty rate is significantly higher than in other wealthy countries, largely because our nation fails to sustainably invest in our children.
In response to the economic crisis caused of COVID-19, significant investments were made for children in the American Rescue Plan, which nearly cut child poverty in half in 2021. Improvements to the Child Tax Credit (CTC) were responsible for much of this impact, resulting in cash transfers that were distributed monthly and reached children most in need.
Following the expiration of these payments at the end of 2021, we backtracked on our progress and child poverty in the U.S. has remained stubbornly high since. Maintaining this high level of child poverty is unacceptable when we have evidence of what works.
End Child Poverty U.S. is a national campaign led by the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group, a partnership of leading anti-poverty organizations. Our aim is to establish a national target to end child poverty in the United States. Establishing a target is necessary to create accountability and focus on child poverty reduction across the federal government. It will also help us to understand how policies affect child poverty in real-time so that we can ensure long-term, meaningful progress.
The time is now to act to end child poverty in the United States - we hope you will join us.
Our goal is to end child poverty in the United States. To do that, we will establish a national child poverty reduction target to create accountability and focus towards ending child poverty across the federal government.
This is a moment that begins a wave of change. A national target will create a mechanism for those advocating on behalf of children to hold the government accountable to making child poverty reduction a priority.
We know we can’t do it alone. It is only through collective action that we can make progress. End Child Poverty U.S. is designed as a resource hub and platform to elevate the voices of those working to end child poverty around the nation.
Child poverty costs the U.S. over $1 trillion a year. Everyone — regardless of socioeconomic status–benefits from strategies that lift children out of poverty.