Page 115 - Impact: Collected Essays on the Threat of Economic Inequality

n Create subsidized jobs programs for unemployed and underemployed individuals between the ages of 16 and 64 in families with children;
n Make child care subsidies available to all eligible families below 150 percent poverty;
n Make the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit refundable with a higher reimbursement rate,
n Base SNAP benefits on the USDA’s Low-Cost Food Plan for families with children;
n Make the Child Tax credit fully refundable;
n Make housing subsidies available to all households with children below 150 percent poverty for whom the fair market rent exceeds 50 percent of their income; and
n Require child support to be fully passed through to Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (“TANF”) families, fully disregarded for TANF benefits, and partially disregarded for SNAP benefits .14
The analysis revealed that if the nation were to make all of these nine policy and program improvements, child poverty could be reduced by 60 percent, lifting 6.6 million children out of poverty.15 Moreover, it would reduce poverty among Black children, who suffer the highest child poverty rates, by 72 percent, and reduce poverty by 64 percent for children under three, who are the most vulnerable to poverty’s harmful effects . Reducing child poverty by 60 percent would cost the nation $77 .2 billion (in 2010), only 2 percent of U .S . government spending or 0 .5 percent of the 2010 U .S . Gross Domestic Product (“GDP”), and only 15 percent of the estimated $500 billion the nation spends every year for the costs associated with children growing up poor .16 Just over half of the $77 .2 billion (54 percent) would go to families below 100 percent of SPM poverty, and 84 percent would go to families with incomes below 150 percent of poverty .17
The same policy improvements would reduce child poverty by an impressive 73 percent in New York, having a bigger impact—more than 10 percentage points—than in the other three largest states (California, Florida, and Texas) .18 New York State policymakers have the opportunity to work with Congress to significantly reduce child poverty in New York, which was 0 .6 million according to the SPM in 2010,19 by investing in effective state programs and policies that are shown in CDF’s analysis to have the biggest impact on reducing child poverty . Table A compares the top, most effective, policy and program improvements for ending child poverty in both New York State and the nation, which includes: expanding housing subsidies, increasing SNAP benefits, increasing EITC and the Child Tax Credit, and supporting parents’ employment through subsidized jobs and child care subsidies .
14 Id. at 8.
15 Id.at 7-8.
16 Id. at 8.
17 Id. at 30.
18 Id. at 45. It is likely that the larger impacts projected for New York arise because the state has a lower prevalence of undocumented immigrants compared to the three other states (3.2 percent in New York vs. 4.5 percent in Florida, 6.7 percent in Texas, and 6.8 percent in California). Id. at 35.
19 Id. at 35.
Lessons from New York City
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