(Washington, D.C., Thursday, September 29, 2022) – The government’s annual poverty and hunger reports – released this month in the midst of high inflation – once again highlight the importance of federal assistance programs in helping children and families get out of and stay out of poverty.

The recent surveys show 10.4% of American families suffer from food insecurity while 11.2% are living in poverty. Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, and West Virginia are in both the top five poorest and hungriest states.

Recently expanded federal assistance programs like refundable tax credits (Earned Income Tax Credit and/or Child Tax Credit) and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program play pivotal roles in preventing families from falling into – and staying out of – poverty. But the Child Tax Credit expired at the end of 2021, leaving the massive gains made recently in cutting childhood poverty at grave risk.

During the COVID pandemic, the US drove poverty down. As economically painful as the crisis was and is, the aggressive public spending from the Trump and Biden presidencies dramatically mitigated the hardship Americans suffered. For example, in 2018, nearly 1 in 4 Black children lived in families with incomes below the poverty line. In 2021, fewer than 1 in 10 did.

The Friends Committee on National Legislation (FCNL) lobbies Congress and the administration to advance peace, justice, opportunity, and environmental stewardship. Founded in 1943 by members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), FCNL fields an expert team of lobbyists on Capitol Hill and works with a grassroots network of thousands of people to advocate for peace and justice. FCNL is a nonpartisan organization with a long and trusted record of working across political divides to achieve positive change.