child poverty

As federal aid shrinks, communities try new ways to tackle child poverty on their own

5:00am December 02, 2024

After Congress ended extra cash aid for families, local efforts aimed to fill the gap. In Flint, Michigan, Rx Kids gives cash aid to every family for a baby's first year. Will it work elsewhere?

Queue Listen Now

Christopher Santiago, 38, hangs out at home in Alsip, Ill., with one of his three children, 9-year-old Calliope. He says Cook County's basic income program has let him provide more for his kids.

Places across the U.S. are testing no-strings cash as part of the social safety net

9:40am March 05, 2024

by Jennifer Ludden

The idea got a boost from the pandemic, when an array of cash relief helped cut child poverty and keep people housed. Researchers are studying how much money, for how long, may have lasting impact.

Queue Listen Now

Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed a tax relief package on Oct. 4. Among other things, it expanded a child and family tax credit.

To tackle poverty, more states will offer bigger child tax credits in 2024

5:28pm January 01, 2024

by Jennifer Ludden

The new benefits take a cue from a pandemic success story — when an expanded U.S. child tax credit briefly cut child poverty in half. Some states include immigrants and index credits to inflation.

Queue Listen Now

A swing sits empty on a playground outside in Providence, R.I. Experts say the end of the expanded child tax credit was a key factor in the big rise in child poverty.

National

Child poverty more than doubles — a year after hitting record low, Census data shows

4:58pm September 12, 2023

by Jennifer Ludden

Experts point to the expanded child tax credit as key to this poverty yo-yo. When it ended, many lower-income families struggled to pay their bills or buy enough food.

Queue Listen Now

A guide to 9 global buzzwords for 2023, from 'polycrisis' to 'zero-dose children'

3:27pm January 17, 2023

by Andrew Connelly

Are you having a polycrisis? Can the world reduce the number of zero-dose children? Experts shared their views about global buzzwords that will be big this year. Here's the list and the definitions.

Why America Has Been So Stingy In Fighting Child Poverty

1:39pm February 22, 2022

by Greg Rosalsky

The U.S. has a long tradition of favoring old people over kids. A new paper investigates why.

Local residents, Cara Baldari and her nine-month-old daughter Evie (L) and Sarah Orrin-Vipond and her eight-month-old son Otto (R), join a rally in front of the U.S. Capitol December 13, 2021 in Washington, DC. The monthly Child Tax Credit payments expire

3.7 million more kids are in poverty without the monthly Child Tax Credit, study says

2:04pm February 18, 2022

by Deepa Shivaram

In one month, the child poverty rate increased from 12.1 to 17 percent, the highest rate seen since Dec. 2020. Black and Latino children experienced an even higher rate of poverty.

Children draw on top of a canceled check prop during a rally in favor of the child tax credit in front of the U.S. Capitol on Dec. 13, 2021, in Washington, D.C.

Families are in distress after the first month without the expanded child tax credit

10:45am January 21, 2022

by Deepa Shivaram

January is the first month since July 2021 that more than 36 million families in the U.S. did not receive money from the expanded child tax credit program. For some, the consequences are already dire.

Jonathan Jones is Albany's commissioner of recreation, youth and workforce services. He credits his single mother's persistence for pushing him to take advantage of every available academic opportunity and getting him to where he is today.

National

'Somebody's On My Side': 3 Men Who Escaped Poverty Help Others Find A Way Out

2:12pm December 28, 2019

by Pam Fessler

In Albany, N.Y., three men use their own experiences to set teens on the right path. Efforts by individuals can sometimes have an outsized impact in the fight against poverty.

Queue Listen Now

According to estimates by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nearly a quarter of children growing up in rural America were poor in 2016, compared to slightly more than 20 percent in urban areas.

National

Report: Rural Poverty In America Is 'An Emergency'

1:36pm May 31, 2018

by Brakkton Booker

A report by Save the Children finds the U.S. ranks 36 out of 175 nations when it comes to child poverty. Within the U.S., nearly a quarter of children growing up in rural America were poor in 2016.