The emergency family assistance plan, pushed by the Biden administration and in effect since March, appears to be producing its first positive effects with a drop in the number of children suffering from food insufficiency, according to a study published this week by the Bureau of Statistics.
Read also :Biden’s America seeks its place in the world
«A drop in the number of households with children reporting food insufficiency and difficulty paying household expenses may be linked to child tax credit checks issued last month“, According to the results of a survey taking”household pulse»American (House Pulse Survey).
The American rescue plan in the amount of 1.9 trillion dollars was definitively approved by Congress on March 10 and signed the next day by Joe Biden.
The Covid-19 pandemic has shed a harsh light on inequalities in the United States, where there is no social safety net and where the savings rate is low or even non-existent for the most modest households as well as for the poor. black and Hispanic minorities. Upon his arrival at the White House, Joe Biden had deplored “the scandalFrom a country, the world’s leading economic power, where so many people are hungry.
«One in seven households in America, and more than one in five in black and Latino households, report they do not have enough to eat”, He had underlined in February while defending the American Rescue Plan. “This includes almost 30 million adults and 12 million children.To tackle this situation, one of the flagship measures of the 1.9 trillion plan is the expansion of tax credits for childcare providers from which the most modest households were previously excluded.
The Tax Service (IRS) began issuing an advance monthly child tax credit in mid-July, recalls the Census Bureau. “About 35 million families received the first monthly payment of up to $ 300 for each child aged 5 and under and up to $ 250 for each child aged 6 to 17», He indicates. He adds that households with children who reported food insufficiency declined by 3 percentage points between surveys conducted before and after these payments. “Adults in households without children saw no change in food insufficiency over the same period», He notes.
Many people who participated in the survey indicated that the checks received paid for a multitude of things. But almost half (47%) said they spend it on food. In addition, 17% of households with at least one child under 5 reported spending this check on childcare. Payments are to continue monthly until December.
Read also :Biden’s fragile green projects in the United States
The Treasury Department announced Friday that the state has made the second tax credit deduction totaling $ 15 billion. “Today, 61 million children across America are benefiting from the Advance Child Tax Credit, helping families put food on the table and meet the needs of the next generationDeputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo said in a statement.
The Treasury, referring to the Census study, estimated that “this tax break has a real impact on the lives of American children».
– .
