A family’s income during the prenatal and early years of a child’s life plays a significant role in her health, well-being, and cognitive development, all of which shape her future outcomes. Evidence abounds on the positive impact that income support programs—especially cash transfers—have on children.

Children experience poverty through hardships like hunger and inadequate nutrition, insufficient access to health care, unstable housing and homelessness, and the toxic stress experienced by their parents.

The release of 2021 poverty and health insurance coverage data from the U.S. Census Bureau demonstrates how government action in response to the pandemic stabilized households, uplifted millions of people from poverty, and brought uninsurance rates to historic lows.

Thanks to powerful federal investments in programs that support people seeking economic security, the child poverty rate in 2021 as measured by the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) dropped by nearly half, from 9.7 percent in 2020 to 5.2 percent in 2021, the lowest level measured.

CLASP responds to latest poverty data showing a drop resulting from federal programs to address the pandemic and recession. Congress must continue this investment through the Build Back Better Act.

New Census data on poverty and health insurance reveal troubling signs for people with low incomes.

Olivia Golden appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal to discuss the latest Census Bureau report on poverty and income in the U.S. 

On September 12, 2017, the U.S. Census Bureau released poverty data from 2016. The data show that poverty and uninsurance rates declined from the previous year as a result of successful government programs. However, far too many people still live in poverty, lack access to…

SNAP is a lifeline for millions of individuals and families in America. The Census Bureau's 2016 data proves that SNAP effectively lifts people out of poverty. 

"An analysis by the nonpartisan Center for Law and Social Policy in Washington, an anti-poverty nonprofit, shows that 22 percent of parents under age 30 are poor. 'We are in a fragile moment,' said CLASP executive director Olivia Golden."