Record inflation was a major reason but perhaps not the largest. When Congress allowed the expanded Child Tax Credit to expire, that was “particularly damaging to child poverty,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.
New York Magazine
September 15, 2023
Economists from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute released a statement that pointed out the effects of U.S. policy choices: “If policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”
MarketWatch
September 15, 2023
According to the Economic Policy Institute, 24 states have passed versions of the CROWN Act. California was the first state to enact the legislation in 2019. Legislation for a national CROWN Act has not been successful.
Essence
September 15, 2023
“The sharp reductions in child poverty in 2020 and 2021 that were engineered even in the face of a pandemic-damaged economy show the importance of policy decisions,” a statement from Economic Policy Institute’s Elise Gould and Ismael Cid-Martinez said. “If policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”
Business Insider
September 15, 2023
From 2017 to 2020, workers clawed back over $3 billion in stolen wages, according to the left-leaning nonprofit think tank Economic Policy Institute. That’s “just a small portion of wages stolen from workers across the country,” according to EPI, with the real cost of wage theft potentially being closer to $50 billion annually.
Business Insider
September 15, 2023
Elise Gould and Ismael Cid-Martinez of the Economic Policy Institute echoed Parrott’s assessment, saying in a statement that “if policymakers were willing to maintain the pandemic-era CTC expansions, a much smaller share of children would be living in poverty.”
“More ambitious—but economically sustainable—expansions of our generally stingy welfare state could essentially eliminate poverty completely,” they added. “We know this vision isn’t politically realistic in the short run, but the policy lessons of 2020 and 2021 should not be lost with today’s report.”
Raw Story
September 15, 2023
Though inflation shock has subsided for many families as the Biden administration points to a return to a strong labor market, “there are families that will have trouble finding enough work (and enough well-paid work) to provide economic security,” according to the Economic Policy Institute.
“This is particularly true for families with children,” the group wrote in response to Tuesday’s report. “The sharp reductions in child poverty in 2020 and 2021 that were engineered even in the face of a pandemic-damaged economy show the importance of policy decisions. … More ambitious – but economically sustainable – expansions of our generally stingy welfare state could essentially eliminate poverty completely.”
That’s not a “politically realistic” idea, the group acknowledges, but the lessons of 2020 and 2021 “should not be lost” with the Census Bureau’s report.
The Independent
September 15, 2023
“CHILD POVERTY IS A POLICY CHOICE,” Heidi Shierholz, president of the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. “This is a disaster that didn’t have to happen.”
Investopedia
September 15, 2023
Foreign guest workers who use the H-2A and H-2B temporary visa programs need better labor protections, according to experts who testified before the U.S. House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections on July 20, 2022.
Daniel Costa, director of immigration law and policy research at the Economic Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., said that the U.S. government is failing to meet basic labor standards and provide basic rights to workers in the growing H-2A and H-2B visa programs.
SHRM
September 15, 2023
But, as the hotel industry and the Economic Policy Institute have pointed out, the agreements conceal specifics on how many and where vacation rentals are actually operating.
The Texas Observer
September 15, 2023