News

This Poverty Tracker report shows how food hardship increased from 2021 to 2022 and shares “Sofia’s Story” and others on how commonly it overlaps with and compounds other hardships and health challenges.

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 and how countries can build better child policy portfolios.

In this working paper released by the Washington Center for Equitable Growth, CPSP researchers find that food assistance can disrupt intergenerational poverty in the United States and help promote racial economic equity.

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine recommends that the Supplemental Poverty Measure be updated in recognition of the needs most American families face such as medical care, childcare, and housing costs.

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.

This year’s Poverty Tracker report spotlights the temporary pandemic relief programs that dramatically — but only briefly — brought child poverty in New York City to historic lows. The reduction in poverty rates highlighted in the report shows that government policy can be an effective poverty-fighting tool.

This new report examines an often overlooked area of need in New York City: food insecurity among low-income, non-citizen New Yorkers. The Poverty Tracker documents a significant increase in non-citizens using emergency food services—and how pantries served a critical lifeline.

A report by the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy and the Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University on behalf of Share Our Strength details state options on how to use Child Tax Credits to dramatically reduce child poverty

Since the introduction of the first monthly Child Tax Credit payment in July 2021, a continuous stream of research has emerged tracking the impact of this new policy on the lives of children and their families. This round up compiles the range of publicly available information on what we know so far.

The United States does not currently guarantee income support universally to families with children. Research finds that cash and near-cash benefits increase children’s health, education, and future earnings while also decreasing costs with respect to health, child protection, and criminal justice. Despite the initial costs, we find that child allowances are a winning investment in our children’s future mobility.

Monthly poverty rates increased from May to June and remained elevated in July. The monthly poverty rate for the total population in June was 14.7%, the highest rate observed so far in 2022.

The Child Tax Credit and many other government benefits don’t currently increase with inflation. Policy indexation, an often overlooked aspect of policy design, would fix this.

Monthly poverty rates rose in April to 13.0% and May to 14.1% following the temporary dip in March when most refundable tax credits were delivered. The monthly child poverty rate rose to 14.1% in April and 16.6% in May.

Opinion by Christal Hamilton at the Center on Poverty and Social Policy and Natalie Foster at the Economic Security Project. Read in the Hill.

The tax filing season is an important one for many families as it provides meaningful boosts to family income and a temporary dip in monthly poverty rates. However, in recent research we find that regular monthly cash payments would help reduce poverty year round.

Monthly poverty remained elevated in February 2022, with a 14.4 percent poverty rate for the total US population and 16.7 percent for children.

This policy brief examines the role of government transfers and tax credits in closing the Black-White child poverty gap. We find that government transfers and tax credits are effective in raising incomes for Black children in poverty, yet are entirely ineffective in closing the Black-White child poverty gap.

Without the monthly Child Tax Credit, the child poverty rate increased from 12.1 percent in December 2021 to 17 percent in January 2022, the highest rate since the end of 2020.

​​In collaboration with Robin Hood and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, we launched a “Special Series on Health and Health Care in New York City.”

The sixth Child Tax Credit payment kept 3.7 million children from poverty in December. In absence of a January payment, the monthly child poverty rate could potentially increase from 12.1 percent to at least 17.1 percent in early 2022.

Since the introduction of the first monthly Child Tax Credit payment in July 2021, a continuous stream of research has emerged tracking the impact of this new policy on the lives of children and their families. This round up compiles the range of publicly available information on what we know so far.

According to our latest projections, the expanded Child Tax Credit kept 3.8 million children from poverty with its fifth monthly payment in November 2021.

New Yorkers of Chinese descent have been suffering from the “double pandemic” of COVID-19 and racial discrimination. Over half of study participants reported experiencing discrimination and one third an incident of harassment. The vast majority of New Yorkers of Chinese descent are worried about their own safety and that of loved ones.

According to our latest projections, the expanded Child Tax Credit kept 3.4 million children from poverty with its third monthly payment in September 2021.

According to our latest projections, the child poverty rate declined from 11.9 percent in July 2021 (the month featuring the first CTC payment) to 11.5 percent in August 2021. Without the CTC, the monthly child poverty rate in August 2021 would have been 16.2 percent.