Child poverty rose to 13.4% in 2024, according to new census data, an increase of 158% since 2021.
One-hundred-and-fifty-eight-percent. More than 9.7 million kids in poverty. How did this happen?
Congress decided that child poverty doesn’t matter, that’s how.
Congress deliberately let the 2021 expanded Child Tax Credit expire. That single piece of policy is credited with helping lift 3 million children out of poverty and driving the rate to a historic low of 5.2%.
In its place, lawmakers passed and are loudly (cynically?) bragging about an inadequate, poorly structured Child Tax Credit that rises to just $2,200 per child — failing even to keep up with inflation since 2017 — and that leaves roughly 19 million children with partial or no credit at all because their parents make too little. Chew on that for a moment: the kids who need the money the most are the ones who get the least. In addition, H.R. 1’s Child Tax Credit also cuts off children whose family income drops as a result of natural disaster, job loss, or even having a new baby.
The census figures released this week estimate that the Child Tax Credit reduced the poverty rate for children by 2 percentage points in 2024, lifting 1.5 million of them out of poverty. The report also credits the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), which feeds 14 million U.S. children annually, with lifting 1.4 million children above the poverty line.
And what did Congress do with SNAP? They cut that too. By $200 billion. H.R. 1 shifts those costs to the states, virtually ensuring that many will end their programs or limit enrollment. The legislation also could take free school meals from 18 million children. Roughly 20% of all children currently experience food insecurity, a figure that likely will climb as a result of H.R. 1.
Another act of official cynicism: The Trump Administration this week released a second report claiming to seek better health for the nation’s children. The “Make Our Children Healthy Again” strategy report makes 128 recommendations for improving children’s health and offers zero tools for achieving that goal. The report came out the same day as the census figures, which, in addition to the poverty numbers, also showed that the number of children without health insurance rose to 6.1% or roughly 4.7 million kids.
The increase was driven by a decline in the number of children covered by Medicaid. And what did Congress do with Medicaid? And the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)?
Yup. They cut that too. By $1 trillion.
There’s nothing like hard, cold numbers to help decide who’s for kids and who’s just kidding.