How a Trump or Harris Administration Can End Childhood Poverty

Childhood poverty continues to plague the U.S., though simple solutions exist to address it. Will the next administration implement them?

As kids head back to school and the general election nears, there鈥檚 a question on the minds of many families: How will the election outcome affect kids and their education?

Polling from the (NPU) has found that heading into the election, for many parents of school-aged children. 鈥淭imes are tough, and parents are walking an economic tightrope every single day,鈥� wrote Keri Rodrigues, co-founder and president of the NPU, .

While the U.S. boasts one of the largest economies in the world, it leads high-income countries in the at .听

The good news is that these issues can be addressed through government policies. Past policies and policies pursued in different countries offer an evidence-based blueprint for doing so.

A recent example of an intervention that lifted kids out of poverty in the U.S. is the, which provided monthly checks to families earning less than $150,000 per year with young children. The program delivered dramatic results, . However, Congress allowed the program to lapse after just one year, and child poverty predictably shot up again.

Canada also saw striking results when it implemented the Canada Child Benefit in 2016, providing monthly, nontaxable payments to low- and middle-income families with kids between the ages of 6 and 17. That program ,,. Similarly, some European countries have reduced the proportion of children at risk of poverty by through universal programs supporting families with children with cash assistance.

Similar programs exist in the U.S., but they are patchwork, and many are still in the testing phases. At the state and local levels, have been launched nationwide since 2017, showing positive effects on kids and families. In Jackson, Mississippi, participants in the fourth cohort of the , which gives $1,000 per month for 12 months to Black mothers, helped them purchase needed shoes and clothes for their children, allowed their kids to participate in more field trips and cultural activities than before, and improved their relationships with their children.听

Beyond direct cash support, universal preschool and childcare programs in some European countries have been shown to , especially . Currently, childcare is one of the for families of young children in the U.S., often rivaling rent. Government spending on early childcare programs can help address poverty, , and support women who pursue careers alongside parenting.

鈥淭he research is pretty clear and universal,鈥� explains Michelle Bezark, a senior researcher at the at Northern Illinois University. 鈥淓arly childhood programs that are well funded have immense long-term benefits for children, families, and society at large.鈥�

The bad news is that if Donald Trump is re-elected, he is not expected to pursue the interventions needed to address the dire issues facing the nation鈥檚 children, such as poverty. Rather, he鈥檚 likely to do the opposite, judging by the presidential playbook drawn up by the Heritage Foundation鈥檚 Project 2025. At least are involved in the project, whose mandate lists protecting children as one of its main goals. Yet Project 2025 promises to reorganize or even eliminate lifelines for families, including subsidized housing, cash assistance, school meals, and Head Start programs.听

鈥淚t would be a disaster,鈥� says Timothy Smeeding, the Lee Rainwater Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Public Affairs and Economics at the University of Wisconsin鈥揗adison and former director of the university鈥檚 Institute for Research on Poverty. 鈥淪ome of these programs are really important, and they would be cut by Project 2025.鈥�

If Trump were elected and Project 2025鈥檚 proposals pursued, that children and families could face worsening impoverishment, hunger, and homelessness. Households with marginalized members, including immigrants, disabled people, and people of color, are the most at-risk under the proposals for families and kids.

Child poverty often manifests as homelessness. More than a million each year nationwide, and tens of millions of kids live in households that . Despite the urgent need to address homelessness among children, the proportion of families benefiting from Housing and Urban Development subsidized housing programs as , the number of affordable housing units falls, and federal housing assistance remains underfunded.

Rather than bolstering subsidized housing programs to keep kids housed, Project 2025 proposes new restrictions on access to these programs. Proposals in Project 2025 would also bar mixed-status households from accessing federal housing subsidies, making families whose members include people with different citizenship or immigration statuses ineligible to receive support. Trump floated the idea of implementing restrictions on mixed-status households during his first term in 2019, and analysts estimated that children would of the population to lose housing under such a rule.听

Food insecurity and hunger are also manifestations of childhood poverty. Today, more than are food insecure. The authors of Project 2025 propose gutting programs that help keep kids fed, including the Community Eligibility Program (CEP), (EBT), and (SNAP). CEP and Summer EBT, also called Sun Bucks, support school-age kids. The former allows low-income schools and school districts to provide free meals to all students. When the school year ends and children no longer receive free or reduced-price school meals, Sun Bucks .听

Meanwhile, SNAP provides EBT to low-income individuals. While the proposals in Project 2025 would not eliminate SNAP, they would implement stricter work requirements and provide fewer exceptions, threatening access for many families.

Both SNAP and Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, another program on Project 2025鈥檚 chopping block, have existing work requirements for recipients. These requirements were already in response to a demand by House Republicans as a condition of raising the debt ceiling. Work requirements are and sexist tropes, such as the so-called 鈥渨elfare queen鈥� and 鈥渃on artist鈥� that Ronald Reagan popularized in the 1980s as a way to target government assistance.听

Research has shown that work requirements , and for parents, the requirements can mean having less time to spend with their kids.

The proposals in Project 2025 go beyond threatening the housing, financial, and food security of families and kids, and take aim at the government鈥檚 Head Start programs, which offer early childhood education, health, and social services to children from birth to age 5 and their families. Bezark says this would have ripple effects across every area of childhood development.听

鈥淚t would mean a lot of kids would not get the developmental support they need,鈥� says Bezark. 鈥淭hat means early intervention services and screening for developmental delays would not happen; kids would not get needed pediatric checkups and immunizations and dental checks, and all of the other wraparound services that Head Start provides.鈥�

would hit rural areas, disabled kids, and communities of color the hardest. Latine families are more likely to live in and need the services of Head Start. Head Start programs include Migrant and Seasonal Head Start and American Indian and Alaska Native Head Start, which serve agricultural and tribal communities, respectively. Children in foster care and those experiencing homelessness are , while disabled kids must fill of enrollment slots. Currently, nationwide participate in Head Start programs.

Rather than gut Head Start programs, promises to expand them. In fact, since entering the presidential race, Democratic nominee Kamala Harris has . She has also promised to increase the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit (CDCTC), which Smeeding argues should be a central part of to support the nation鈥檚 kids and families. The CDCTC would help working families with children offset the cost of childcare. Alongside it, Smeeding suggests increasing the Earned Income Tax Credit and reinstating a Child Tax Credit to ensure 鈥渘o one falls through the cracks.鈥澛�

Supporting kids and families with solutions like these is popular with voters, too鈥擠emocrats and Republicans alike. When polled by the NPU, with school-age children supported reinstating the Child Tax Credit, including 84% of registered Democrats, 81% of Independents, and 75% of Republicans. Another poll from the found that believe improving the quality of childcare and early learning programs, and making them more affordable for families is a good investment of taxpayer money.听

Bezark agrees: 鈥淟aying that foundation is crucial to long-term child outcomes and societal outcomes.鈥�