Loading...
Loading...
Click here if you don’t see subscription options

Poverty in this country is historically high and growing. Currently over 46 million Americans live in poverty; over 16 million of them are children. In America today, the younger a person is, the more likely they are to live in poverty,” Bishop Blaire wrote in a letter on July 25 to Congress. “Low-income tax credits are pro-work, pro-family and some of the most effective antipoverty programs in our nation.” Bishop Blaire noted that the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable Child Tax Credit “lift millions of American families out of poverty and help them live in dignity and with greater economic security.” He said that a just framework for spending cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons and that it would be unjust not to renew tax cuts for the working poor while addressing tax cuts for middle class and wealthy Americans.

Comments are automatically closed two weeks after an article's initial publication. See our comments policy for more.

The latest from america

People accept food distributed from a truck by a Haitian government program in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, April 6, 2020, amid the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other faith groups then were urging the Trump administration to support debt relief for poor nations. (CNS photo/Jeanty Junior Augustin, Reuters)
More than 60 Catholic institutions, congregations and individuals have signed a letter imploring Mr. Biden to endorse a new round of assistance to the world’s most indebted nations from the International Monetary Fund.
Kevin ClarkeJanuary 10, 2025
‘Nickel Boys’ preserves Colson Whitehead’s critically acclaimed narrative style while adding cinematic texture that enhances key details of the book.
Grace LenahanJanuary 10, 2025
I have trouble talking about the loss without tearing up, as if the smoke and ash from Los Angeles traveled across the country to find me.
Greg ErlandsonJanuary 10, 2025
In 2017 speech to a conference of the World Meeting of Popular Movements, Cardinal McElroy, the newly appointed archbishop of Washington, gives a hint as to how he might approach the incoming Trump administration.
J.D. Long GarcíaJanuary 10, 2025