Racial Discrimination Intensified while the Pandemic Subsided: Experiences of Chinese New Yorkers during 2020-2022
Drawing upon data collected through the New York City Longitudinal Survey of Wellbeing from 2020 to 2022, this report shows that Chinese Americans in New York City experienced intensified racial discrimination and racism-related vigilance while the COVID-19 pandemic subsided.
Starting Sooner: Should Cash Payments Begin During Pregnancy?
This policy brief reviews the research on the potential impact of cash payments to families during pregnancy on birth and longer term outcomes.
Counting Children Fully in Economic Impact Payments and Other Cash Assistance Policies Matters for Poverty Reduction
This brief examines the impact of counting children as full recipients of Economic Impact Payments and other direct cash payments. Counting children fully in cash payments has a significant impact on poverty reduction.
State-Level Poverty Impacts of the Child Tax Credit in 2021
This fact sheet provides estimates of the impacts of the 2021 Child Tax Credit on child poverty in each state.
Inequality Below the Poverty Line since 1967: The Role of the U.S. Welfare State
Today in the United States, unlike in the past, the public policies that do the most to reduce U.S. poverty are also those that do the most to increase inequality among low-income households. This article’s findings reveal that recent state-led antipoverty efforts have placed the near poor and the deeply poor on divergent paths.
Children Left Behind by the Child Tax Credit in 2022
The 2021 Child Tax Credit expansion included the one-third of children formerly left out of the full credit and resulted in historic poverty reduction. The expansion’s expiration excluded these children once again and child poverty rates rose sharply in response. This analysis updates the share and profile of children left out of the full Child Tax Credit in 2022, representing 26% of all children.
What Would 2022 Child Poverty Rates Have Looked Like if an Expanded Child Tax Credit Had Still Been in Place?
The sharp spike in child poverty from 2021 to 2022 represents the largest year-over-year increase on record and is largely the result of the expiration of the 2021 temporary Child Tax Credit expansion. This policy brief examines what 2022 child poverty could have been if an expanded Child Tax Credit had been continued.
A Benefit-Cost Analysis of Child Care Subsidy Expansions: The New York State Case
This paper estimates the benefits and costs of a proposed New York State policy reform to provide child care subsidies to families up to three times the federal poverty line while supplementing child care worker compensation, alongside alternative program design options. It estimates a net present value of $12.4 billion in yearly social benefits relative to a yearly cost of $1.6 billion.
Impact of the Expanded Child Tax Credit and its Expiration on Adult Psychological Well-being
This article investigates the effects of the expanded Child Tax Credit and its expiration on psychological distress of adults in households with children and its differential effects by gender, education, marital status, and race and ethnicity. The expanded Child Tax Credit led to a significant reduction in mild - but not moderate or severe - symptoms of psychological distress, especially among female, single, married, and Hispanic adults.
Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit on Household Spending: Estimates Based on U.S. Consumer Expenditure Survey Data
In partnership with the Bureau of Labor Statistics, this NBER working paper is the first to use nationally-representative expenditure data to examine the impact of the expanded Child Tax Credit on household spending. Families used the monthly payments to enhance child and household well-being, mainly on food, housing, and child-related goods and services.
Too Little, Too Late: An Assessment of Public Spending on Children by Age in 84 Countries
This joint report by researchers at UNICEF Innocenti, the Center on Poverty and Social Policy and the University of York Policy Engine, is a global analysis on how public money is spent on children with the aim to inform the development of child policy portfolios globally.
Experiences of Poverty Around the Time of a Birth: A Research Note
This research note examines the poverty rate of mothers overall and by birth parity and racial and ethnic group in the six months before and after childbirth. Poverty rates increase after child birth, particularly for first-time mothers, and Black and Hispanic mothers.
The Differential Effects of Monthly & Lump-Sum Child Tax Credit Payments on Food & Housing Hardship
This study investigates the effects of the monthly and the lump-sum expanded Child Tax Credit payments on food and housing hardship in the United States. Families were more likely to use the monthly benefits to purchase food, but the lump-sum benefits to catch up on rent payments.
The Effectiveness of the Food Stamp Program at Reducing Differences in the Intergenerational Persistence of Poverty
This working paper, released by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, investigates the effects of food assistance on racial disparities in the intergenerational persistence of poverty. Income transfers that reduce poverty during childhood can contribute to reduced poverty in adulthood and also reduce racial gaps.
Income Guarantee Policy Design: Implications for Poverty, Income Distribution, and Tax Rates
This analysis features a fundamental tax reform converting personal deductions and credits into an income guarantee along with higher marginal tax rates.
The Costs of Cutting Cash Assistance to Children and Families: Changing TANF work requirements could cost society up to $30 billion per year
This benefit-cost analysis examines the potential effects of the Limit, Save, Grow Act (H.R. 2811 in the 118th Congress) that would change state Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) work participation requirements in ways that could result in states restricting or eliminating TANF cash assistance for families with children. Every $1 in TANF cash assistance payments lost to families per year would cost society $8 per year, with the worst case scenario costing society close to $30 billion per year.
The Antipoverty Effects of the Expanded Child Tax Credit Across States: Where Were the Historic Reductions Felt?
In this report published by The Hamilton Project at The Brookings Institution, CPSP affiliate Bradley Hardy and CPSP researchers examine the state variation in poverty reduction effects of the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit. The greatest level of poverty reduction was seen in states with relatively lower costs of living and higher pre-expansion poverty rates.
The Case for a Federal Birth Grant: A Plan to Reduce Poverty for Newborns and their Families
This research brief examines the potential anti-poverty impact of a federal birth grant, including in combination with a child allowance. It shows that a birth grant can significantly reduce poverty rates among infants and their families during the first year post birth.
Intra-Year Employment Instability and Economic Well-Being Among Urban Households: Mitigating Effects of the Social Safety Net
This article examines the associations among employment status, income supports, poverty, and material hardship and whether the safety net buffers against financial hardship among households with unstable employment. Consistent unemployment is strongly associated with low income and poverty status, but not material hardship. Findings also suggest that cash transfers effectively buffer against the negative impact of persistent unemployment, while in-kind transfers appear more important for the unstably employed.
The Effects of Child Poverty Reductions on Child Protective Services Involvement and Placement into Out-of-Home Care
This article shows the reduction in child protective services involvement resulting from implementation of three of the policy packages from a recent National Academy of Sciences proposal to reduce child poverty: child allowance and expansions to the earned income tax credit; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program; and the federal minimum wage.