IV 

118TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 551 

Fully addressing child poverty. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JUNE 23, 2023 

Ms. LEE of California (for herself, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. WILSON of Florida, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. THOMPSON

of Mississippi, Mr. MCGARVEY, Ms. BUDZINSKI, Ms. NORTON, Mr. 

SABLAN, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Mr. 

EVANS, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. JACKSON of Illinois, Ms. SCANLON, Ms. BROWNLEY, and Ms. TLAIB) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Oversight and Accountability 

RESOLUTION 

Fully addressing child poverty. 

Whereas there were over 3,800,000 children living in poverty 

in the United States in 2021, the lowest child poverty 

rate on record and a 46-percent reduction from 2020; 

Whereas for the first time on record, children in 2021 experienced a lower rate of poverty than adults; 

Whereas improvements to the Child Tax Credit passed in the 

American Rescue Plan Act were largely responsible for 

the record decline in child poverty in 2021, with the expansions lifting over 2,000,000 children over the poverty 

threshold and the full Child Tax Credit lifting nearly 

3,000,000; 


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Whereas the expiration of improvements to the Child Tax 

Credit already has pushed 4,000,000 children back into 

poverty in January 2022, and caused a 12-percent increase in food insecurity; 

Whereas the United States must continue to work to ensure 

that all eligible families are able to receive the Child Tax 

Credit that they are owed, including non filer families, 

immigrant families, and families in Puerto Rico; 

Whereas, according to analysis from First Focus on Children, 

the share of Federal spending on children temporarily increased in 2021 and 2022 due to an influx of pandemic 

assistance, yet it is likely to see a decrease in the share 

of Federal spending on children in 2023; 

Whereas Black, Hispanic, Asian, and American Indian and 

Alaska Native children experienced record low-poverty 

rates in 2021, but still experience significantly higher 

rates of poverty than their White peers and the injustice 

of poverty is deeply entwined with the injustice of systemic racism; 

Whereas 1.4 percent of children in the United States (over 

1 million) were still living in deep poverty in 2021, in 

households with incomes less than 50 percent of Federal 

poverty thresholds and who face severe deprivation; 

Whereas the Federal poverty thresholds underestimate poverty in the United States, and families with children with 

incomes well above Federal poverty thresholds continue 

to experience material hardship and the inability to afford basic needs; 

Whereas young children under the age of 3 have the highest 

rates of poverty, experiencing significant hardship while 

undergoing critical stages of brain development; 


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Whereas the United States continues to have a significantly 

higher rate of child poverty compared to other wealthy 

nations because the Nation fails to sufficiently invest in 

children; 

Whereas children in immigrant families experience higher 

rates of poverty than children in nonimmigrant families 

because they face barriers to accessing antipoverty programs, and increasing both their eligibility and access to 

benefits would have a significant impact in reducing child 

poverty; 

Whereas children living in Puerto Rico and the other United 

States territories experience poverty at higher rates than 

children in the 50 States and District of Columbia because they lack equal access to Federal benefits as part 

of a long history of racism and discrimination against 

people living in the territories; 

Whereas poverty is linked to material hardship, resulting in 

children in poverty experiencing hunger and food insecurity, a lack of access to health care, unsafe and unstable 

shelter, and a lack of other basic needs which lead to 

children in poverty often having worse physical and mental health, educational, and other outcomes than their 

wealthier peers; 

Whereas children living in poverty and Black and Hispanic 

children experience higher rates of asthma and lead poisoning compared to their peers due to living in substandard housing and neighborhood conditions that are a 

product of an environmental legacy of structural racism; 

Whereas the National Academy of Sciences finds that when 

households with children receive cash transfers, parents 

and caretakers spend it on resources that support their 


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children’s healthy development, leading to improved physical and behavioral health and educational outcomes for 

their children and leading these children to earn more as 

adults; 

Whereas, as the United States high rate of child poverty has 

negative implications for not only the outcomes of individual children living in poverty, but also for society as 

a whole, costing the United States upward of $1 trillion 

a year due to lost economic output, increased health care 

costs, and more; 

Whereas the outbreak of COVID–19 and its economic fallout 

has had a disproportionately negative impact for the economic security of households with children, especially for 

households of color and those that were already struggling before the pandemic; 

Whereas too often children unjustly come in contact with the 

child welfare system due to a lack of household sufficient 

economic supports and youth who age out of the foster 

care system experience higher levels of poverty, criminal 

justice involvement, and homelessness than their peers; 

Whereas households with children with disabilities and special 

health care needs are more prone to economic hardship, 

as the yearly average cost of caring for a child with disabilities ranges from around $6,000 to $20,000; 

Whereas poverty is inextricably linked to homelessness, with 

over 1,000,000 students experiencing homelessness in the 

2020–2021 school year, yet these issues are often addressed in separate policy silos; 

Whereas the United States invests fewer public dollars in 

early childhood education and care than almost all other 

developed nations; 


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Whereas social spending on children has a bigger return on 

investment for society than social spending for other ages 

yet the United States continues to underinvest in children; and 

Whereas only 21 out of 100 families with children in poverty 

receive benefits through the Temporary Assistance for 

Needy Families (TANF) program, only 1 in 4 eligible 

families receive Federal housing assistance, only 10 percent of income-eligible infants and toddlers can access 

early Head Start, only 25 percent of eligible 3- to 5-yearolds can access Head Start, and even with recent increases to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program 

(SNAP) benefits, food insecurity remains high for households with children: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) desires that no child should experience pov3 erty in the United States and supports the establish4 ment of a national child poverty reduction target to 

5 build the political will needed to make the invest6 ments and policy changes that will end child poverty; 

7 (2) recognizes that every child deserves access 

8 to nutritious meals, safe and stable housing, appro9 priate pediatric health care, clean air and drinking 

10 water, and other necessities, and children should not 

11 be denied resources because of the color of their 

12 skin, their household’s economic status or zip code, 

13 their health care status, their gender identity and 

14 sexual orientation, or their immigration status; 


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1 (3) supports making the improvements made in 

2 2021 to the Child Tax Credit permanent, which sig3 nificantly reduced child poverty and narrowed the 

4 poverty gap for Black, Hispanic, and American In5 dian/Alaska Native children; 

6 (4) encourages the establishment of a perma7 nent interagency coordinating council to improve do8 mestic and international policymaking for children 

9 housed in the Office of the Department of Health 

10 and Human Services Secretary; 

11 (5) recognizes that the United States under12 invests in children and support making additional 

13 Federal investments for children, increasing the 

14 share of Federal spending on children, and address15 ing the budgetary structural disadvantages facing 

16 children’s programs; 

17 (6) supports access for all children to high-qual18 ity, affordable, and accessible learning opportunities, 

19 including mixed deliver, within child care, pre-K, 

20 Head Start, and Early Head Start in order to ben21 efit children, their families, the early childhood 

22 workforce, and the economy; 

23 (7) guarantees accessible, diverse, safe, high24 quality, equitable public education and accessible 

25 education infrastructure from pre-K–12 for all chilVerDate Sep 11 2014 04:49 Jun 24, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\HR551.IH HR551

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1 dren, and protects and expands public resources for 

2 students with disabilities; and 

3 (8) encourages States, territories, and localities 

4 to enact policies that follow the direction provided by 

5 this resolution. 

Æ 


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