Make your tax-deductible gift by December 31—every gift matched, up to $150,000!
In this moment, the future of our rights, our bodily autonomy, our freedom feels uncertain. What we do next will make a difference for decades to come.
Make your tax-deductible gift by December 31—every gift matched, up to $150,000!
In this moment, the future of our rights, our bodily autonomy, our freedom feels uncertain. What we do next will make a difference for decades to come.
Double your impact in the fight to defend and restore abortion rights and access, preserve access to affordable child care, secure equality in the workplace and in schools, and so much more. Make your matched year-end gift right now.
Public social insurance and safety net programs are critical to the economic security of women and families. Some of these programs are counted in the official poverty measure and lift millions of people out of poverty. Others, primarily non-cash benefits like the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps) and tax credits like the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), are not counted in the official poverty measure but boost the incomes of millions above the poverty line.
Social Security, the EITC, SNAP, unemployment insurance, and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) are five key programs that lifted families’ incomes above the official poverty line in 2015. Together, these programs lift millions of people out of poverty every year.
Notably, funding for all of these programs is designed to adjust automatically when eligibility increases. During economic downturns, programs like SNAP and unemployment insurance expand to meet greater need; these programs served as critical lifelines for millions of families during and following the Great Recession. In contrast, funding for block grant programs like Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) typically falls over time, even when need rises. Core funding for the TANF block grant has been frozen since its enactment in 1996, and TANF failed to serve as an adequate safety net during the recession or its aftermath. Today, TANF serves only 23 of every 100 families with children that live below the poverty line.
Programs like Social Security, the EITC, SNAP, unemployment insurance, and SSI work, moving millions of women and children out of poverty and improving the economic security of millions more. We must protect and strengthen these effective anti-poverty vehicles—not block grant or otherwise cut them.