I don’t know about you, but I’m sick of maps. Maps on my TV. Maps on my Twitter feed. Maps in my blogs (yeah, like this one, sorry). This week, however, the maps changed. We’ve moved from a nation divided into red states and blue states to a coast-to-coast COVID surge in nearly every state. What’s worse — we now know how devastating this will be for kids.
Multiple reports now tell us that the pandemic is causing child poverty to skyrocket — “with an additional 2.5 million children falling below the poverty line since May.” These new COVID numbers forecast an even bleaker look for children who will suffer “lasting harm” because of it.
But here’s the good news — we know how to change this. By now, we all know the expert advice to stop the spread of COVID — wash your hands, mask up, social distance. Well, experts also know how to stop the spread of child poverty — and it’s outlined in the Child Poverty Reduction Act. In both cases, we all need to take action for these to be effective.
Even before the pandemic, child poverty was the shame of our nation. Children experience poverty at a higher rate than any other age group in America — and the pandemic is making it worse. But, the Child Poverty Reduction Act maps out a plan to end this with a commitment to cut our national child poverty rate in half before it’s too late.
The virus won’t wait for a new Congress or a new president to solve this crisis. All of us have a role to play. And it starts today.