Government support reduces poverty

According to the federal government’s official poverty rate, nearly 1/3 of America’s children (11.2 million) lived in poverty in 2011-13. But that measure does not include the nation’s poverty-fighting programs like SNAP, tax credits, Social Security, and housing subsidies. When analysts include government supports, the poverty rate among children drops to 18%. The earned income and child care tax credits have the greatest effect, reducing the poverty rate by nearly 8 percentage points. SNAP reduces the poverty rate by another 2 percentage points and affects over 2 million kids. In Connecticut, these programs reduce the child poverty rate by nearly 50% (from 25 to 13%) and affect 94,000 kids.

Source: Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2/27/15, Reducing Child Poverty