Research Report Reducing Child Poverty in the US: An Updated Analysis of Policies Proposed by the Children’s Defense Fund
Sarah Minton, Linda Giannarelli, Kevin Werner, Victoria Tran
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Nearly one in six children in the US lives in poverty. The Children’s Defense Fund contracted with the Urban Institute to estimate how much child poverty could be reduced by a comprehensive set of policies—increasing the minimum wage, providing transitional jobs, expanding subsidized housing and child care, increasing food assistance, increasing federal income tax credits, and changing how child support is counted in determining benefits. Urban Institute staff analyzed the policies using the TRIM3 microsimulation model. We estimate that the full package of policies would reduce the number of children living in poverty by 57 percent—from 9.6 million to 4.1 million.

Research Areas Families Social safety net Children and youth
Tags Families with low incomes Subsidized employment Poverty Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) Welfare and safety net programs Economic well-being Wages and nonwage compensation Refundable tax credits Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Earned income tax credit Housing subsidies Kids in context Hunger and food assistance
Policy Centers Income and Benefits Policy Center