Child Poverty in America

A crucial safety net for low- and moderate-income families is jeopardized as the nation hurtles towards the fiscal cliff, Maag writes.

Readers react to an Op-Ed essay criticizing current efforts to help the poor.

The children's commissioner voices further concerns over the Welsh government's approach to child poverty.

[...] celebration over State Street's success, along with General Electric Co.'s renewed commitment to its birthplace with 350 jobs at its new battery plant, overlooks a harsher reality — that life is getting worse for Schenectady's poor only a few...

Soon, people all around the country will learn what we at Covenant House have known for 40 years -- that our kids are good kids, despite all the efforts of abusive parents, negligent institutions, and crushing poverty to turn them bitter.

Deputy Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri explains how the Administration's actions on welfare were directly in line with those requested by former Governor Tim Pawlenty and other Republican governors.

The "Kids Count" report, one of the most widely cited surveys of how children are faring in the United States, hasn't offered much good news in recent years, and this year's edition, released on Wednesday, offered few surprises.

The federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) feeds hungry kids.

There is not a "snowball's chance in hell" that the UK will eradicate child poverty by 2020, a government adviser said today. It is time to "come clean" and publicly admit the target will be missed, according to Alan Milburn.

Throughout the nation, one in five children live in poverty. In Kentucky, that increases to one in four. That means more than 25% of Kentucky children live in families earning less than $22,350 a year for a family of four. Children growing up in poverty are more likely to face childhood health and behavioral problems and are more likely to face education challenges. They are also more likely to end up poor as adults, creating an unending cycle of poverty in the Commonwealth. Children are our future leaders. Our future doctors, teachers, small business owners, soldiers, policymakers, judges, nurses, police officers… etc. If we don’t help kids grow up safe, healthy, and ready to succeed now – we are jeopardizing the future of our communities, our Commonwealth, and our nation.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Mitt Romney has distanced himself from his remarks lamenting the nearly 47 percent of Americans who do not owe federal income taxes, but his fellow Republicans helped engineer the...

If policymakers are sincere, rather than bemoaning current poverty rates, they will take action to make things better for poor families.

As a young community organizer in Chicago, Barack Obama concluded that to make a real difference, he needed to gain power. But did he actually make a difference?

Wonder why so many families will lose out under Rep. Camp’s tax bill? It, like the bill introduced by Senate Republican leaders, would end tax cuts for low- and moderate-income families that were put into place by the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009. The National Economic Council estimatesthat by letting these tax cuts expire:

12 million families would lose an average of $800 from the elimination of the Child Tax Credit expansion.11 million families would lose an average of $1,100 from the repeal of the American Opportunity Tax Credit for college expenses.6 million families would lose an average of $500 from the elimination of improvements to the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Read more: http://www.momsrising.org/blog/h-r-8-a-bill-that-hurts-millions-of-moms/#ixzz22JnRV3G1

Ending poverty and reversing unemployment may be complex, but feeding a child is not. If policymakers start to listen to the voices of Americans, they might move more quickly to ensure that no child is hungry.