As Families Struggle to Afford Necessary School Supplies, Calls for an Expanded Child Tax Credit Grow Louder
Empire State Voices, Economic Security Project Donate Backpacks and School Supplies for Syracuse Residents in Need
SYRACUSE, NEW YORK — This Saturday, Empire State Voices and Economic Security Project Action joined forces to donate $2,000 worth of backpacks and other necessary school supplies to the Mary Nelson Youth Center’s Back-to-School Supply Giveaway. The supplies will be distributed to local Syracuse families in need as children prepare for the return to school over the next several weeks.
Empire State Voices and Economic Security Project Action joined forces to donate $2,000 worth of backpacks and other necessary school supplies to the Mary Nelson Youth Center’s Back-to-School Supply Giveaway. | Credit: EMPIRE STATE VOICES
While inflation has continued to cool and unemployment remains at record lows, prices remain high on everything from groceries to rent, and families across the country are feeling the strain. Over 75% of parents say that they are being asked to spend too much ahead of the upcoming school year, with families expecting to spend an average of $586 per child. This financial pressure is felt particularly hard in the Syracuse area, which has the second highest child poverty rate among large cities nationwide, with 45.8% of children under 18 living below the poverty line.
The continued burden of high costs despite positive numbers for the broader economy has revived calls for an expansion of the child tax credit. In 2021, the Biden-Harris administration’s American Rescue Plan temporarily expanded these benefits, providing low-income families $3,600 for each child under age 6 and $3,000 for children ages 6-17. This provided a critical lifeline to struggling families, lifting 242,000 of New York’s children out of poverty. Overall, 3.6 million—87% of children in the state—benefited from the program under the expansion.
Despite this overwhelming success, Republicans in Congress refused to support efforts to make the expansion permanent, causing it to expire after just one year and leading to an unprecedented rise in child poverty nationwide. Now, 1,075,000 children in New York are excluded from receiving full benefits because their parents earn too little.
Over 75% of parents say that they are being asked to spend too much ahead of the upcoming school year, with families expecting to spend an average of $586 per child. | Credit: EMPIRE STATE VOICES
“Families here in Syracuse are struggling to keep up with high prices and a system that prioritizes corporations and billionaires over working people,” said Sean Yang, NY-22 Regional Organizing Director for Empire State Voices. “The expanded child tax credit was one of the most successful poverty-reduction policies this country has ever enacted. As our donation today proves, a few thousand dollars goes a hell of a long way towards radically improving the lives of working families.”
“Three years ago, parents in New York and across the country experienced the transformative power of the expanded Child Tax Credit. In New York, that meant putting upwards of $450 back into the pockets of families to help them make ends meet, including the ability to fully prepare for the new school year,” said Anna Aurilio, Senior Campaigns Director for Economic Security Project Action. “The expanded Child Tax Credit was - and again could be - a vital tool for millions of parents just trying to cover the essentials, like school supplies, clothes, and rent, and should be made permanent.”
To learn more about Empire State Voices, please reach out to press@empirestatevoices.org
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About Empire State Voices
Empire State Voices (ESV) is a multi-year campaign dedicated to amplifying the voices of everyday working New Yorkers. ESV is fighting for economic policies that make life more affordable for constituents and holding members of Congress across the state accountable when they fail to do the same.
About Economic Security Project Action
Economic Security Project Action mobilizes resources and people behind ideas that build economic power for all Americans. As an ideas advocacy organization, we legitimize our issues by supporting cutting-edge research and elevating champions, win concrete policy victories for the communities that need to see change now, and provoke the conventional wisdom to shift what’s considered possible. Our team of academics, organizers, practitioners, and culture makers disburse grants, run issue campaigns, develop creative interventions and research products to support the field and coordinate events to encourage investment and action from others.
