Child Poverty in the United States: A Policy Critique
In 2012, a team from PBS began to look at poverty from the unique lens of children’s eyes. The first episode of “Poor Kids” showed the emotional and physical effects that living in poverty has on children. At the time, 1 in 5 American children lived below the poverty line (Neumann 2012). As of 2017, the child poverty rate fell to 17.5% (Schieder & Wolfe 2018). This percentage is arguably still too high for one of the wealthiest first-world countries globally.
While the key issues related to child poverty vary in every individual case, there are a handful of cause-and-effect issues relating to poverty. The United States’ great recession may be to blame for many families’ financial struggles starting in 2007, as the families in “Poor Kids” attested. For instance, the family living at the Salvation Army shelter linked the downfall of their parents’ home repairs business to the recession, as people stopped getting extra work done on their houses at that time (Neumann 2012).
Other issues related to child poverty include education, health (physical and mental), food, and homelessness (Neumann 2012; Fay 2019). Every child featured in the film complained of going hungry at one point or another and some discussed the difficulty of obtaining “healthy food” like fruits and vegetables. Also, some families couldn’t afford to eat three square meals a day and relied on a food supplement program from their kid’s school for meals over the weekends.
Regarding education, the cause and effect of poverty is astounding. In example, children in poverty often can’t participate in extra curriculars at school, such as Johnny not being able to play football or Kaylie not being in dance/cheerleading. Not to mention, Kaylie and her brother had to prolong their school enrollment due to their lack of a permanent residence. Also, the children in the film associated getting a good education with being able to have a stable income and being able to afford a home. The link was so strong that some of the kids tied their self-worth to getting good grades in school. Among the chief concerns with child poverty, in my opinion, is the emotional stress and predisposition to mental illnesses (anxiety, depression) that worrying about money and struggling to survive as a kid brings on (Neumann 2012). Indeed, the poverty and these other major social issues are inextricably linked
There are numerous programs that help families struggling with poverty, including TANF, WIC, free school lunches and EITC. One study found that, of the programs available to help end child poverty, the refundable tax policy has helped the most children at an astounding 4.5 million in 2017 (Schieder & Wolfe 2018). EITC is designed to offset the federal taxes for working families within a certain income range.
In analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of the refundable tax policy (EITC), several things became clear. One, this policy is aimed to help the working poor, while leaving those unable to work to survive off other programs, an obvious weakness of a program intent on helping people out of poverty (CBPP 2019). Two, childless adults do not receive nearly enough to offset federal taxes for workers, thus reinforcing the importance of the nuclear family value in the U.S. The CBPP (2019) analysis if EITC pointed out that childless individuals working at minimum wage do not qualify for refunds, thus leaving these individuals struggling greatly with poverty. The American values of family and work ethic largely influence the EITC program’s beneficiaries in deciding who is “worthy” and “unworthy.”
Despite its weaknesses, EITC helped 29.1 million people get out of poverty and 12.5 million become “less poor” in 2017 alone (CBPP 2019). Of all the programs, EITC has helped the most children, as Schieder & Wolfe (2018) analyzed in their comparisons of government programs. Of course, ultimately, it is the culmination of all government programs that helps keep millions of families out of poverty each year.
My suggestion for changes in social policy would be to start looking at poverty beyond terms of annual income. Poverty, defined as being unable to obtain substantial food, water and/or shelter is just one aspect of being poor. Child poverty is also being unable to receive a proper education, being left out of extra-curricular activities because they can’t afford them, and the mental health problems that arise from living in poverty. If we redefined the issue of poverty as the issue of quality of life, we would likely see a difference in the values social policies embody and would reach more people who are struggling to survive.
Instead of focusing on the “worthy” versus “unworthy” poor, we could work to come to an understanding that every individual, regardless of work ethic or family values, deserves to have a roof over their head, clothes on their backs, and food in their stomachs. Moreover, the U.S. should consider adopting the ideals set forth in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which contends that children have the right to living conditions that promote their physical, mental, and social well-being (UN 1989). In order to help people out of poverty, we must start looking at poverty through a different lens.
References
Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2019, July 09). Policy basics: The earned income tax credit. Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-tax/policy-basics-the-earned-income-tax-credit
Fay, B. (2019). Poverty in the United States. Retrieved from https://www.debt.org/faqs/americans-in-debt/poverty-united-states/
Neumann, J. (Director). (2012, November 20). Poor kids. [Television series episode] In J. Neumann & L. Mucciolo (Producers), Frontline. PBS.
Schieder, J., & Wolfe, J. (2018, September 12). Government programs kept tens of millions out of poverty in 2017. Retrieved from https://www.epi.org/blog/government-programs-kept-tens-of-millions-out-of-poverty-in-2017/
United Nations (1989). Convention on the rights of the child. Retrieved from https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/crc.aspx
