EDITORIAL: Child poverty on rise and Congress needs to act

Nov. 30—Just a few short months ago, child poverty in America was at a historic low.

As we reach the waning days of 2022, however, rates are back on the rise, more children are going hungry and more families are finding themselves at risk.

It doesn't have to be this way. Congress has the power — and the obligation — to step in before things get worse.

The recent reversal of fortune can largely be tied to the end of the expanded Child Tax Credit last year.

The extra monthly payments of $300 per child to families of children in need — on top of the traditional $2,000 tax credit — helped reduce child poverty by more than 40%. Cash-strapped parents, reeling from the effects of the pandemic, were suddenly able to afford food, clothing, child care, even heat and hot water — the basic elements so many of us take for granted.

There is ample evidence the payments, which reached 36 million American families, worked as planned. For the first time, the child poverty rate fell below the rate for adults.

The expanded credit was allowed to expire after Democratic U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia sided with Republicans, who called the payments a welfare scheme — tipping the scales in a divided U.S. Senate and citing concerns that there was no work requirement tied to the payments. GOP leaders said there was little evidence the program actually helped children.

Once the program died, however, child poverty began to creep up once again. Parents lost access to the expanded credit just as inflation exploded, adding another $300 to $400 a month to regular expenses. After the program ended, 4 million American children fell under the poverty line.

"We basically saw an erosion of the gains that were made under the monthly child tax credit payments in 2021," said Allison Bovell-Ammon, director of policy and communications at Children's Health Watch.

"It was soul crushing not to get (the renewal), but the commitment to the tax credit remains, absolutely," Maria Cancian, dean of the Georgetown University School of Public Policy, told the New York Times. "We've shown that we can get the money in the hands of parents and really make a difference."

There's ample evidence to back up those assertions.

After the expanded benefits went into effect in July of 2021 — without a single Republican vote — the child poverty rate fell from 9.7% to 5.2%. Food insecurity plummeted. The expanded credit was especially effective in reducing poverty among Black, Latinx and Native American children.

Parents' involvement in the workforce was largely unchanged — no one was staying home for a chance at another $300 in aid. At least six studies showed no change in parental employment.

There is still some hope this year's lame-duck Congress can work out an agreement to revive the credit before the end of the year, even if it requires some dealmaking with Republicans, who will control the House in 2023.

"This is an extremely popular policy that has helped millions of families and supported our entire country's economic recovery — it proved that we can tackle big challenges like poverty and hunger if we put the needs of working families first," Rep. Katherine Clark, a Massachusetts Democrat, told the news website The 19th.

Lifting American children out of poverty should be a no-brainer. Here's hoping Congress takes its responsibility to the next generation seriously.

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