Do Children Have a Right to Eat?
The expanded Child Tax Credit puts food on the table
Human Rights Day is observed every December 10th, the day that the United Nations General Assembly adopted, in 1948, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This year’s theme is: “All Human, All Equal.”
The principles of equality and non-discrimination are at the heart of human rights. According to the United Nations, “rampant poverty, pervasive inequalities and structural discrimination are human rights violations and among the greatest global challenges of our time.”
The Child Tax Credit reduces poverty
The expanded Child Tax Credit, originally passed as part of the American Rescue Plan, has helped families to put food on the table. A survey from the Census Bureau found that families who received the expanded Child Tax Credit were more able to buy groceries and pay weekly expenses. In fact, 47% of the 64,562 respondents reported spending the Child Tax Credit on food.
And, yet, the Build Back Better Bill, which extends the expanded Child Tax Credit for just one more year, sits languishing in the Senate. It has been passed by the House, but if the Senate does not pass this bill by the end of the year, millions of children will go hungry again.
