Add your name to Inequality.org's petition and tell Congress: No more child poverty. Expand the Child Tax Credit and remove income requirements.

Jack, 

Today, in the richest country in the world, nearly one in seven children grows up in poverty. 

 

It’s outrageous because child poverty is a policy choice. We know how to fix this. In fact, we already have: in 2021, child poverty rates dropped by half because of the pandemic-era expanded child tax credit.

 

All the while, our economy keeps getting less and less equal: the richest 1% now own 34% of the wealth in the country.

 

Now, with Harris and Trump campaigns both talking about child tax credits, we need Congress to act, before momentum dies down.

Tell Congress: No more child poverty. Reinstate the expanded Child Tax Credit as soon as possible.

The American Rescue Plan changed the longstanding child tax credit: expanding it to $3,600 and removing income requirements. That gave families a much-needed cushion during the early pandemic. Some families got as much as $300 per child, per month, deposited directly into their bank accounts. They spent that on groceries, rent, bills -- whatever they needed to survive.

 

And three million children were lifted out of poverty.

 

Just a few months later, that policy lapsed, and the trend reversed. The latest numbers show that 2023 was a return to normal: 13.7% of children are living in poverty. They’re disproportionately represented by Black and Latinx children.

 

According to the latest Institute for Policy Studies research, last year’s child-poverty rate would have been just 8.6% if the same Child Tax Credit expansion had remained in place.

 

With both presidential campaigns touting larger Child Tax Credits, and blaming Congress for the lack of action, we must speak up now. Tell Congress: No more child poverty. Expand the Child Tax Credit and remove income requirements.

We know how to fix this. Let’s speak out and make it happen!

 

Chuck Collins, for Inequality.org

 

Daily Kos, PO Box 70036, Oakland, CA, 94612.