Statement Attributed to Vince Hall, Chief Government Relations Officer
The bipartisan Child Tax Credit proposal recently announced on Capitol Hill would strengthen a powerful and proven tool to help ensure families can access the food and resources they need to thrive. The current bipartisan proposal would help lift as many as 400,000 children above the poverty line and help 3 million additional children in its first year, according to one estimate.
Food insecurity is about more than food. Our neighbors facing hunger tell us that cost of living, housing, employment, health and other factors—like the end of pandemic-era relief efforts—are among the top reasons why it’s increasingly difficult to afford and access the food they need. An expanded Child Tax Credit would help offset the rising costs that families with children are facing.
The now-expired expanded Child Tax Credit passed during the COVID-19 pandemic helped reduce child poverty by nearly half in 2021. While the proposed expansion is not as robust as the pandemic-era credit, the policy changes would meaningfully benefit many of the families served by the Feeding America network of food banks, food pantries and meal programs. Last year, around 60% of Feeding America food banks reported that the end of the pandemic-era expanded Child Tax Credit impacted the number of people seeking food assistance.
Families with children can’t wait. In 2022, more than 13 million children in the U.S.—1 in 5—faced hunger. This is the highest rate of child food insecurity in nearly a decade. The child poverty rate also more than doubled from 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% percent in 2022. But as we saw during the pandemic, we know we can increase food security when we all work together to make sound policies a priority.
Feeding America urges Congress to swiftly pass legislation including bipartisan improvements to the Child Tax Credit, ideally in time for the 2024 tax filing season. Moving forward, Feeding America is committed to continuing to work alongside the communities we serve, Congress, the administration and other partners to advance policies that will help end hunger among all children in the U.S.
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About Feeding America
Feeding America® is the largest hunger-relief organization in the United States. Through a network of more than 200 food banks, 21 statewide food bank associations, and over 60,000 partner agencies, food pantries and meal programs, we helped provide 5.3 billion meals to tens of millions of people in need last year. Feeding America also supports programs that prevent food waste and improve food security among the people we serve; brings attention to the social and systemic barriers that contribute to food insecurity in our nation; and advocates for legislation that protects people from going hungry. Visit www.feedingamerica.org, find us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter.
