SNAP Helps Cut Child Poverty in Half

Thanks to government programs, the child poverty rate fell to a record low of 15.6% in 2016, a little more than half its 1967 level of 28.4%.  Data incorporating the Supplemental Poverty Measure (which counts the income that the SNAP, rental subsidies, and other federal non-cash benefits and tax credits provide) show that the drop is largely attributable to safety net programs, particularly SNAP and refundable tax credits for earned income and child care.

This improvement has benefited all demographic groups.  Between 1991 and 2016, SPM poverty rates among black, Hispanic, and non-Hispanic white children were all cut roughly in half.  When poverty is measured without counting safety net income, child poverty is only modestly lower than it was in the 1960s.

Source: Center on Budget & Policy Priorities, 10/5/17, Child Poverty

Universal Child Tax Credit

"Lately there has been growing interest in a simple and effective policy solution to weaknesses in the social safety net: making the Child Tax Credit (CTC) universal. The credit is also one of the rare social policies that bridges the left and right. In recent months, the case for transforming the CTC into a universal child allowance paid at monthly intervals had been made by both progressive and libertarian scholars."

Source: The American Prospect,4/19/17  Learn More >

Celebrating Global Youth Service Days

1 in 8 Connecticut residents are food insecure.

Our volunteers help provide over 11.5 million meals to these hungry neighbors, and connect these same individuals and families with long-term support building a stronger community for us all.

In collaboration with Youth Service America (YSA), and in alignment with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Foodshare is celebrating the impact made by young volunteers in our community.

Take action alongside millions of other youth around the world April 21-23, during YSA’s Global Youth Service Days. Foodshare offers many volunteer opportunities, including Mobile Foodshare, Retail Pick-Up, e-Advocacy, and SNAP Outreach.

Watch the video for more information on #GYSD. 

CT Budget Cuts Could Jeopardize Anti-Poverty Agencies

"Proposed state and federal budget cuts threaten Connecticut's most vulnerable citizens.

Gov. Dannel Malloy wants to cut funding for the Human Services Infrastructure Community Action Program by 20 percent. Individuals and families with limited income depend on the agencies for help and referrals for child care, senior services, food, housing and home-heating assistance."

Source: Public News Service, 3/24/17, Read More >

A Child's Mind Altered By Poverty

Kimberly Noble, a Neuroscientist from Columbia University, recently conducted a study which indicates that there is a direct correlation between poverty and the brain architecture of a low-income child.

Noble and her colleagues utilized a standard psychological testing method, to evaluate the cognitive skills of children from various socioeconomic backgrounds. They discovered that there was a significant difference in language skills, along with other cognitive measures, among children of low income households as compared to high-income households.

Source: Care2, 3/10/17, Learn More >

Poverty has Moved to the 'Burbs'

Poverty in the United States has long been associated with large urban centers or rural communities, where it has historically been most concentrated. However, between 2000 and 2015, suburbs accounted for nearly half of the total national increase in the poor population. For the first time, suburbs became home to more poor residents than cities—those just outside of the country’s largest metro areas saw the number of residents living below the poverty line grow by 57%.

In 2015, 16 million poor people lived in the suburbs, outnumbering the poor population in cities by more than 3 million, small metro areas by more than 6 million, and rural areas by more than 8 million.

Source: Brookings Institution, 2/15/17, Poverty in the Suburbs

The Chance of Poverty is Strong For Children in U.S

"Out of all age groups, children are still most likely to live in poverty, according to new research from the National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health.

Using the latest available data from the American Community Survey, NCCP researchers found that in 2015, while 30 percent of adults have low incomes, more than 40 percent of all children live in low-income families -- including 5.2 million infants and toddlers under 3.

Despite significant gains in household income and reductions in the overall poverty rate in recent years, 43 percent (30.6 million) of America's children are living in families barely able to afford their most basic needs, according to Basic Facts about Low-Income Children, the center's annual series of profiles on child poverty in America."

Source: NewsRoom, 2/9/17, Read More >

Poverty Outlaws?

"America’s desire to prosecute homelessness, and even the act of begging, has led to policy measures implemented across the country that are aimed at attacking our most vulnerable citizens instead of helping them. This includes state restrictions on the use of public property, stern enforcement of permit requirements, and the outright banning of homeless encampments."

The National Coalition of the Homelessness published a report entitled, Share No More which revealed that there are thirty-one cities throughout the U.S that have restricted or eliminated the act of sharing food with those in need, along with cuts to social security, Medicare, and many other welfare services used by the underprivileged.

Source: SPIN, 2/06/17, Read More >

Financial Insecurity Takes a Toll On Cities

Having a high proportion of financially insecure residents (those with less than $2,000 in savings) can cost cities millions of dollars in lost revenue, unpaid public utility bills, and public benefit use, according to a new report from the Urban Institute. Residents with little or no savings are less likely to own homes and pay property taxes, more likely to miss water and other public utility payments, and more likely to become homeless and need financial help from the city.

The authors argue that cities should make financial empowerment for low- and middle-income families a priority, including financial coaching and providing incentives for savings.

Source: Urban Institute, 2/8/17, Financial Insecurity Costs Cities

Talking Poverty With State Officials

On Thursday, February 16th, the 4th annual #TalkCTPoverty Advocacy Day and Breakfast will be taking place at the Legislature Office Building in Hartford from 8:30-10:30am. Join us!

First Food...Now Child Care Deserts?

Food deserts are areas where fresh fruit, vegetables, and other healthful foods are hard to find due to a lack of grocery stores, farmers' markets, and healthy food providers. But a recent study shows that finding a child care program near home can be a struggle for many working families, too.

The study examined the location of child care centers in eight states that together comprise 20% of the U.S. population under the age of five. It found that 42% of these young children live in “child care deserts”—a ZIP code containing more than three children for every child care center slot.

On the whole, rural areas are more likely to be deserts than suburban or urban areas. But cities are not immune to limited child care supply: the study found Chicago to be the largest urban child care desert, with five out of every six children under the age of five living in a desert. Communities with high poverty rates are not necessarily more likely to be child care deserts. Areas with a poverty rate of 10 to 20% were most likely to qualify as child care deserts.


Source: Center for Law and Social Policy, 2/1/17, Child Care Deserts

A New Prescription (Rx) Boosting Health Nationwide

"...for the last six years, Wholesome Wave has worked quietly on an equally ambitious initiative: getting healthcare providers to write prescriptions for produce, rather than just pills. It’s called FVRx (Fruit and Vegetable Rx) and its ready to storm the nation—starting with downtown LA."

FVRx primarily serves families that are living at or below the poverty line along with children who are obese/overweight. The majority of families that participate in this program are also SNAP recipients. Through SNAP each member of the family receives an average of four dollars per day, and as recipients of FVRx families would receive an additional four dollars per day which must be spent exclusively on produce. 

Source: Modern Farmer, 1/3/17, The Power of Produce Prescriptions

Conservatives Find SNAP Works, But Needs Reform

The conservative think tank, American Enterprise Institute (AEI), observes that a large body of research shows that SNAP* reduces poverty, improves food security among low-income households, and has positive effects on infant health and long-term benefits for children. It also finds SNAP to be fairly efficient.

In FY 2014, the error rate (that is, the percentage of dollars that go to ineligible households or get over- or underpaid) was extremely low at 3.66%, and 99% of households that received benefits were eligible.

In addition, 92% of spending is for benefits that go directly into households, with only 8% supporting administrative and other efforts.

But AEI believes SNAP would benefit from several reforms. It proposes a pilot program in a few states to test distributing SNAP benefits through block grants. This, it contends, would allow states to experiment with work requirements, efforts to improve nutrition, and ways to better tailor benefit levels to local conditions. Besides block grants, pilot programs could be implemented and rigorously studied to determine whether work requirements for all able-bodied recipients could be effective and whether they increase employment among SNAP recipients. Other reforms include changing the SNAP benefit calculation to adjust for local cost of living and not allowing SNAP participants to purchase unhealthy nonfood items linked to obesity, such as sugary beverages.

Source: American Enterprise Institute, 1/25/17, SNAP Reforms

*Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (formerly food stamps)

EITC Return Delayed

Each year, more than 27 million low- and moderate-income households file taxes and receive a refund from the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). For the first time in 2017, many early filers—more than half of those claiming the EITC and Child Tax Credit (CTC)—will wait longer for their refunds.

The Protecting Americans from Tax Hikes (PATH) Act of 2015, which made provisions of the EITC permanent, also required the IRS to delay tax refunds for those claiming the EITC or the refundable portion of the CTC until at least February 15 in an effort to verify wages and reduce errors. 

 This delay could have serious effects on families who depend on the EITC and CTC. The study found that many families (over 70% of early filers with children) rely on the timeliness of their refund immediately to pay down debt on a car or house.

Source: Center for Law & Social Policy, 1/4/17, EITC Delay

High Rates of Poverty and Income Inequality Within U.S

A recent study from the Population Reference Bureau has revealed that there has been a dramatic increase in both inequality and poverty, throughout the entire United States for the past two and a half decades.

"Today, 41 percent of U.S. counties suffer from high levels of combined poverty and income inequality, up from just 29 percent back in 1989. Only 28 percent of counties have low levels of poverty and low levels of inequality. In other words, more than 70 percent of counties have either high levels of inequality, high levels of poverty, or both."

Source: City Lab,1/3/17  View Article >

Majority of Low-Wage Jobs Held By Women

"Oxfam America, in partnership with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR), recently released a report entitled “Undervalued and Underpaid in America: The Deck is Stacked Against Millions of Working Women.” The researchers found that of the millions of people in the U.S. working low-wage jobs, the majority are women."

The study noted that women will most likely face the need to accept employment that undervalues their education and skills.
Women will also have to face being under-compensated for their contributions.

Source: Food Tank, 12/27/16,  View Article >

Child Poverty Causes Psychological Effects in Adulthood

According to a recent study conducted by a group of researchers from Cornell University, children who experience poverty are not only likely to see long-term physical impacts, but psychological as well.

"Impoverished children in the study had more psychological distress as adults, including more antisocial conduct like aggression and bullying and more helplessness behavior, than kids from middle-income backgrounds. Poor kids also had more chronic psychological stress and more deficits in short-term spatial memory."

Source: Cornell Chronicle, 12/21/17  Read More >

U.S Has One of the Hightest Rates of Child Poverty

"The U.S. has one of the highest rates of child poverty in the developed world. Of 35 wealthy countries studied by UNICEF, only Romania has a child poverty rate higher than the 23 percent rate in the U.S.

A child is deemed to be living in relative poverty if he or she is growing up in a household where disposable income, when adjusted for family size and composition, is less than 50 percent of the median disposable household income for the country concerned.

Compounding the poverty issue for children is the issue of homelessness. Homeless children experience food insecurity, with one-third reporting that they skip meals; are more than twice as likely as middle-class children to have moderate to severe acute and chronic health problems; and are twice as likely as other children to repeat a grade in school, to be expelled or suspended, or to drop out of high school."

Source: The Philadelphia Tribune, 12/21/16, View Article...

Harvard Seeks to Eliminate the Stigmas of Poverty

A recent international panel came together at Harvard’s Center for European Studies for a two-day workshop that examined how different forms of exclusion contribute to the spread of poverty, and how social, political, and economic inclusion may reduce it. A key issue is how the poor are stigmatized, and how that itself fosters poverty.

Check out the full article in the Harvard Gazette >

U.S Poor Spend High Pecentage of Income on Food

Data from the Economic Research Service has shown that poorer households spend a greater share of their income on food. This trend means that higher food prices disproportionately affect the spending behavior of low-income households and often require them to allocate a larger share of their incomes to food.