Poverty & Family Economics

One in five children live in poverty today. Economic insecurity in childhood can often lead to lifelong disadvantages, ranging from poor health to low achievement in school. Federal investments like the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit lift millions of children and families out of poverty every year, but yet children still continue to bear the brunt of the recession’s effects. The good news is that we know how to reduce child poverty. We can look to the United Kingdom, where the British government halved child poverty in 2009 through a coordinated strategy of investments for children, measures to make work pay, and efforts to increase financial support for families. We can also look to what has worked here in the US and our success in significantly reducing senior poverty through federal investments like Medicare and Social Security. We need to build on what works and help working families provide the security that is essential to ensure that all children can fulfill their potential.
Resources
Letter: Correct the Inequities in COVID-19 Response
Bruce Lesley | April 20, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Congressional leaders in both houses with a set of recommendations to address the needs …
Kids & COVID-19: Resource Hub
First Focus Campaign for Children | April 16, 2020 |
The impact on children from COVID-19 is immense. It is also variable and complicated. Every facet of the lives of children and families are …
Statement: Senate package good first step for kids but children need more robust measures
Michele Kayal | March 26, 2020 |
We commend Senate lawmakers’ unanimous passage of the $2 trillion coronavirus emergency bill, and even more, for using it to offer relief to America’s …
Statement for the Record: Ways & Means Subcommittee on Worker and Family Support Hearing on Combatting Child Poverty
Cara Baldari | March 25, 2020 |
Excerpt: As members of the U.S. Child Poverty Action Group (CPAG), a coalition of national organizations dedicated to addressing child poverty in the United …
Letter: Prioritize the well-being of children as you respond to the Coronavirus outbreak.
Bruce Lesley | March 20, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to Congressional leaders in both houses, urging them to prioritize the well-being of children in …
Statement: Congress’s coronavirus response is a good first step, but bigger, bolder measures are needed
Michele Kayal | March 18, 2020 |
We applaud Congress for passing the Families First Coronavirus Response Act, providing families and children with increased food and nutrition assistance, supplemental state funding …
First Focus Campaign for Children identifies 120 lawmakers who prioritize children
Michele Kayal | March 12, 2020 |
In 2019, nearly one-in-six of our nation’s children lived in poverty. The number of kids without health insurance rose to more than 4 million, …
Letter: Children should not be treated as an afterthought — pass these bipartisan and common sense bills
Bruce Lesley | January 10, 2020 |
First Focus Campaign for Children sent the following letter to all 100 U.S. Senators, urging them to consider legislation that would improve the lives …
Letter: On Reducing Child Poverty – Tax Policy
| June 18, 2019 |
On June 18th, 2019, First Focus Campaign for Children sent a letter to the Leadership of the Senate Committee on Finance and the House …
Implementing A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty
| June 11, 2019 |
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine (NASEM) recently released a landmark study, A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty, which confirms that child poverty is …