As 44 million Americans live in poverty, a crisis grows

[ProSense]

As 44 million Americans live in poverty, a crisis grows

By Katrina vanden Heuvel

When the government released new U.S. Census data on poverty last week, our warp-speed news cycle paid too little attention to what these numbers tell us -- and what the government could do to tackle this moral, economic and political crisis.

It's clear that the Great Recession battered those on the bottom most heavily, adding 6 million people to the ranks of the officially poor, defined as just $22,000 in annual income for a family of four. Forty-four million Americans -- one in seven citizens -- are now living below the poverty line, more than at any time since the Census Bureau began tracking poverty 51 years ago. Shamefully, that figure includes one in five children, more than one in four African Americans or Latinos, and over 51 percent of female-headed families with children under 6.

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Half in Ten, a coalition working to cut poverty by half in 10 years, is pushing Congress to renew the TANF Emergency Fund, which is set to expire on Thursday. Thirty-six states and the District of Columbia have used the program to provide 250,000 low-income and long-term unemployed workers with subsidized jobs. The coalition is also pushing to make the Obama administration's Recovery Act reforms to the child tax credit and the earned-income tax credit permanent. These progressive policies keep families from falling into poverty and reduce long-term costs such as crime, public benefits and lost consumption. Estimates of costs associated with childhood poverty run at $500 billion annually, or 4 percent of gross domestic product.

And then there are the Bush tax cuts for those making over $250,000 a year, a centerpiece of the GOP's just-released "Pledge to America." Edelman says that it's difficult to see how we can help the 44 million Americans living in poverty today without that revenue.

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[ProSense]

1. Child poverty has ramifications for nation’s future growth, prosperity

Child poverty has ramifications for nation’s future growth, prosperity

By Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and John Podesta

On Sept. 16, the Census Bureau released its 2009 poverty data revealing that more than one in five children in America lived in poverty last year.

Child poverty merits a significant policy response not only because of the moral obligation we have to provide every child with an equal chance to succeed, but because it has major consequences for America’s long-term economic growth and prosperity.

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However, given the severity and depth of this recession, further action is necessary to reverse the increase in child poverty. The upcoming tax debate provides an opportunity for reforms that would benefit working families and lift millions of kids out of poverty. Last year, Congress made reforms to the Earned Income Tax Credit and Child Tax Credit that rewarded work and helped low-income working parents meet their families’ basic needs. The stakes are high. If Congress allows these reforms to lapse, a full-time minimum wage worker with two children would stand to lose almost $1,500 of their child tax credit, a loss of income that would force parents to cut back on basic necessities for their kids. Congress must act now to make last year’s improvements to the tax code permanent and give working parents the tools to keep their children out of poverty.

Congress must also act swiftly to create jobs so parents can provide for their own children. An obvious step would be to extend the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families Emergency Fund for another year. Democrats and Republicans alike have hailed this program as a job creation engine that has enabled states to partner with the private sector to create over a quarter million jobs for vulnerable workers and move families from welfare to work. If Congress fails to act, this effective program will expire on Sept. 30, forcing states to wind down successful programs that have created jobs and provided nutrition, housing and other social services to vulnerable children.

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