DeLauro Statement on New Child Poverty Data from US Census Bureau

Today, Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) released a statement in response to new data from the U.S. Census Bureau that shows failure to extend the expanded, monthly Child Tax Credit contributed to the childhood poverty rate increasing by nearly 140% in a single year – the largest increase on record.

“There has been no modern policy that has been as successful as the expanded, monthly Child Tax Credit. Millions of children were lifted out of poverty, hunger was cut by 26 percent, and families were provided with unprecedented economic security. Families used this money to pay for housing, food, child care so they could go to work, and other basic essentials of everyday life. Moreover, for every $1 invested, the Child Tax Credit provided $8 in social and economic benefits.

“These new numbers show that a lapse in the policy has had devastating consequences, as families and children struggle to keep up with rising costs and fall back into what I have called preventable poverty. We know the monthly Child Tax Credit was a huge success and the best solution we have to reduce child poverty. I am outraged and it is time to bring it back and provide middle- and working-class families with the permanent economic security they deserve. I will not rest until we make this program permanent. Our children deserve nothing less.”