Millions of children were lifted out of poverty last July when the Biden Administration provided checks of up to $300 per child per month to low-income families. The child tax credit expired on December 31, leaving low-income families struggling to buy food and pay rent in the midst of a bleak winter and a global pandemic.
For this reason, Ethnic Media Services offered an informative session on the challenges faced by families with economically vulnerable children; in addition, important figures were presented on the progress of public programs and citizen policies to which other sectors of the population have had access.
The Child Tax Credit, which was set to expire on December 31, 2020, provided direct payments of $300 per month for children 6 years old and $250 per month for those 6 years old and older. The monthly payments allowed families to access benefits without having to wait a year to receive the credit.
"Hunger increased from 10 million in 2019 to 12 million in 2020. Children of African descent and Latinos are twice as likely to go hungry because of systemic racism," said Loree D. Jones, CEO of Philabundance, a hunger relief project in Philadelphia, one of the poorest large cities in the United States.
Philabundance has provided 70,000 culturally localized meals to Afghan refugees, and provided food during Ramadan so that Muslim families had food to break their fasts.
The credit was projected to reduce annual child poverty by more than 40%, said Claire Zippel, senior research analyst on the Income and Poverty Trends team at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. "We know that reducing child poverty helps children be healthier and perform better in school, and sets them up for success in adulthood," she said.
Therefore, they concluded that it is necessary to take a new proposal to local authorities to intercede with the U.S. Congress to establish new routes to move families with children away from economic vulnerability. It is expected that by July 2022, the effects of poverty on the vulnerable child population will drive them away from school altogether.
New legislation on the subject, Build Back BetterThe results, the experts concluded, would reduce school dropout rates, rising malnutrition rates among Afro-descendant and Latino children, and improved social performance in the short and long term.
