Poverty, we’ve long been told, is a problem without a solution. “The poor you will always have with you,” the New Testament advised, and that idea has stuck. Poverty is just too big a problem – too deeply entrenched, too much a part of the human condition – for mere mortals to solve.
Except that it’s not.
History shows that, at least here in the United States, programmatic efforts to reduce poverty within specific, targeted groups can be successful. If we have not come close to eliminating poverty, we have still found ways to alleviate it considerably. And history suggests that we can go even further to lift millions more out of poverty.
But we haven’t done that – not because we don’t know what to do, but because Washington doesn’t have the will to do it.
A Little History
The most successful anti-poverty programs have targeted elderly Americans. Enactment of the Social Security Act in 1935 lifted millions of elderly people out of poverty, and Social Security continues to have a significant positive impact on poverty rates. The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that in 2023, Social Security was responsible for keeping 22.7 million adults and children above the poverty line.
Similarly, the passage of Medicare in 1965 helped cut the poverty rate among elderly households by two-thirds, over a 30-year period.
At the opposite end of the age scale, efforts to reduce child poverty have also shown promise. Most notably, the 2021 expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit (CTC) during the COVID-19 pandemic – increasing the benefit, and making it fully refundable and available to more low-income families – helped reduce the child poverty rate to a record low of 5.2% in 2021. But Congress allowed that expansion to lapse in 2022, with predictable results: the child poverty rate more than doubled in 2022, rising to 12.4%.
Megan Curran of Columbia’s Center on Poverty and Social Policy summed up the impact of the expanded tax credit, as well as its subsequent expiration: “The expanded Child Tax Credit reached the vast majority of families; shored up family finances amidst the COVID-19 and economic crisis; helped reduced child poverty to the lowest level on record; decreased food insufficiency; increased families’ ability to meet their basic needs; and had no discernable negative effects on parental employment. Since its expiration, however, many families with children have seen a reversal of fortune directly attributable to the loss of the credit.”
Curran suggests that another expansion of the CTC could have a significant positive impact on child poverty. And Congress has an opportunity to make that happen this year – but don’t hold your breath waiting for Washington to act.
A Lack of Will
After allowing the expanded CTC to expire in 2022, Congress took up the issue again this session. A bill to provide a more modest expansion – costing about a third of the 2021 legislation – looked, for a brief moment, like it might actually win Congressional approval.
The CTC proposal was rolled into a bill that included several business tax breaks popular with Republicans, and the combined bill passed the House in February by a vote of 357-70. That sort of strong, bipartisan majority is almost unheard-of in today’s highly polarized Congress.
Granted, this year’s CTC proposal is a scaled-down version of the 2021 legislation, and would not have the same dramatic impact. Still, it was a notable start, suggesting the possibility of more bipartisan support in the future.
Then the bill went to the Senate, where it promptly fell victim to election-year politics. Senate Republicans, unwilling to give President Biden a major legislative victory as he runs for reelection, seem intent on keeping the bill bottled up for the foreseeable future.
That’s the way politics work, all too often. In this case, the failure of the CTC expansion illustrates the lack of political will to do anything meaningful about child poverty this year. And, in the current era of intense partisan polarization, it’s unclear when politicians might ever find the will to address this issue in the future.
Unless we — as citizens and voters and activists — can make them find the will.
The Role of Family Health Project
There is no doubt that the CTC is an essential step towards combating child poverty and would be a great step forward, putting cash directly in the hands of millions of low income families. As we continue to advocate for change from our elected officials, Family Health Project will continue to do our vital work of uplifting these families.
Direct Giving programs, such as Family Health Project, have been proven to have immense impacts on low-income families struggling in poverty.
Put simply, we are putting money into the hands of families that need it now. We believe poverty can be eradicated and all mothers and babies deserve access to healthy beginnings.