[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 551 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
H. RES. 551

                    Fully addressing child poverty.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             June 23, 2023

Ms. Lee of California (for herself, Ms. Jacobs, Ms. Wilson of Florida, 
  Ms. Schakowsky, Mrs. Watson Coleman, Mr. McGovern, Mr. Thompson of 
 Mississippi, Mr. McGarvey, Ms. Budzinski, Ms. Norton, Mr. Sablan, Ms. 
 Clarke of New York, Ms. Moore of Wisconsin, Mr. Evans, Mr. Payne, Ms. 
 Bonamici, Mr. Jackson of Illinois, Ms. Scanlon, Ms. Brownley, and Ms. 
 Tlaib) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the 
               Committee on Oversight and Accountability

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
                    Fully addressing child poverty.

Whereas there were over 3,800,000 children living in poverty in the United 
        States in 2021, the lowest child poverty rate on record and a 46-percent 
        reduction from 2020;
Whereas for the first time on record, children in 2021 experienced a lower rate 
        of poverty than adults;
Whereas improvements to the Child Tax Credit passed in the American Rescue Plan 
        Act were largely responsible for the record decline in child poverty in 
        2021, with the expansions lifting over 2,000,000 children over the 
        poverty threshold and the full Child Tax Credit lifting nearly 
        3,000,000;
Whereas the expiration of improvements to the Child Tax Credit already has 
        pushed 4,000,000 children back into poverty in January 2022, and caused 
        a 12-percent increase in food insecurity;
Whereas the United States must continue to work to ensure that all eligible 
        families are able to receive the Child Tax Credit that they are owed, 
        including non filer families, immigrant families, and families in Puerto 
        Rico;
Whereas, according to analysis from First Focus on Children, the share of 
        Federal spending on children temporarily increased in 2021 and 2022 due 
        to an influx of pandemic assistance, yet it is likely to see a decrease 
        in the share of Federal spending on children in 2023;
Whereas Black, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian and Alaska Native children 
        experienced record low-poverty rates in 2021, but still experience 
        significantly higher rates of poverty than their White peers and the 
        injustice of poverty is deeply entwined with the injustice of systemic 
        racism;
Whereas 1.4 percent of children in the United States (over 1 million) were still 
        living in deep poverty in 2021, in households with incomes less than 50 
        percent of Federal poverty thresholds and who face severe deprivation;
Whereas the Federal poverty thresholds underestimate poverty in the United 
        States, and families with children with incomes well above Federal 
        poverty thresholds continue to experience material hardship and the 
        inability to afford basic needs;
Whereas young children under the age of 3 have the highest rates of poverty, 
        experiencing significant hardship while undergoing critical stages of 
        brain development;
Whereas the United States continues to have a significantly higher rate of child 
        poverty compared to other wealthy nations because the Nation fails to 
        sufficiently invest in children;
Whereas children in immigrant families experience higher rates of poverty than 
        children in nonimmigrant families because they face barriers to 
        accessing antipoverty programs, and increasing both their eligibility 
        and access to benefits would have a significant impact in reducing child 
        poverty;
Whereas children living in Puerto Rico and the other United States territories 
        experience poverty at higher rates than children in the 50 States and 
        District of Columbia because they lack equal access to Federal benefits 
        as part of a long history of racism and discrimination against people 
        living in the territories;
Whereas poverty is linked to material hardship, resulting in children in poverty 
        experiencing hunger and food insecurity, a lack of access to health 
        care, unsafe and unstable shelter, and a lack of other basic needs which 
        lead to children in poverty often having worse physical and mental 
        health, educational, and other outcomes than their wealthier peers;
Whereas children living in poverty and Black and Hispanic children experience 
        higher rates of asthma and lead poisoning compared to their peers due to 
        living in substandard housing and neighborhood conditions that are a 
        product of an environmental legacy of structural racism;
Whereas the National Academy of Sciences finds that when households with 
        children receive cash transfers, parents and caretakers spend it on 
        resources that support their children's healthy development, leading to 
        improved physical and behavioral health and educational outcomes for 
        their children and leading these children to earn more as adults;
Whereas, as the United States high rate of child poverty has negative 
        implications for not only the outcomes of individual children living in 
        poverty, but also for society as a whole, costing the United States 
        upward of $1 trillion a year due to lost economic output, increased 
        health care costs, and more;
Whereas the outbreak of COVID-19 and its economic fallout has had a 
        disproportionately negative impact for the economic security of 
        households with children, especially for households of color and those 
        that were already struggling before the pandemic;
Whereas too often children unjustly come in contact with the child welfare 
        system due to a lack of household sufficient economic supports and youth 
        who age out of the foster care system experience higher levels of 
        poverty, criminal justice involvement, and homelessness than their 
        peers;
Whereas households with children with disabilities and special health care needs 
        are more prone to economic hardship, as the yearly average cost of 
        caring for a child with disabilities ranges from around $6,000 to 
        $20,000;
Whereas poverty is inextricably linked to homelessness, with over 1,000,000 
        students experiencing homelessness in the 2020-2021 school year, yet 
        these issues are often addressed in separate policy silos;
Whereas the United States invests fewer public dollars in early childhood 
        education and care than almost all other developed nations;
Whereas social spending on children has a bigger return on investment for 
        society than social spending for other ages yet the United States 
        continues to underinvest in children; and
Whereas only 21 out of 100 families with children in poverty receive benefits 
        through the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, only 
        1 in 4 eligible families receive Federal housing assistance, only 10 
        percent of income-eligible infants and toddlers can access early Head 
        Start, only 25 percent of eligible 3- to 5-year-olds can access Head 
        Start, and even with recent increases to Supplemental Nutrition 
        Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, food insecurity remains high for 
        households with children: Now, therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
            (1) desires that no child should experience poverty in the 
        United States and supports the establishment of a national 
        child poverty reduction target to build the political will 
        needed to make the investments and policy changes that will end 
        child poverty;
            (2) recognizes that every child deserves access to 
        nutritious meals, safe and stable housing, appropriate 
        pediatric health care, clean air and drinking water, and other 
        necessities, and children should not be denied resources 
        because of the color of their skin, their household's economic 
        status or zip code, their health care status, their gender 
        identity and sexual orientation, or their immigration status;
            (3) supports making the improvements made in 2021 to the 
        Child Tax Credit permanent, which significantly reduced child 
        poverty and narrowed the poverty gap for Black, Hispanic, and 
        American Indian/Alaska Native children;
            (4) encourages the establishment of a permanent interagency 
        coordinating council to improve domestic and international 
        policymaking for children housed in the Office of the 
        Department of Health and Human Services Secretary;
            (5) recognizes that the United States underinvests in 
        children and support making additional Federal investments for 
        children, increasing the share of Federal spending on children, 
        and addressing the budgetary structural disadvantages facing 
        children's programs;
            (6) supports access for all children to high-quality, 
        affordable, and accessible learning opportunities, including 
        mixed deliver, within child care, pre-K, Head Start, and Early 
        Head Start in order to benefit children, their families, the 
        early childhood workforce, and the economy;
            (7) guarantees accessible, diverse, safe, high-quality, 
        equitable public education and accessible education 
        infrastructure from pre-K-12 for all children, and protects and 
        expands public resources for students with disabilities; and
            (8) encourages States, territories, and localities to enact 
        policies that follow the direction provided by this resolution.
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