Opinion: Pass the Working Families Tax Credit

If the WFTC is passed that s per child that can make a huge difference and allow families to concentrate on things that are definitely essential to their day-to-day life like food housing and childcare and their children s long-term success State Sen Andrew Gounardes who sponsored the Working Families Tax Credit bill at a rally for the proposal in William Alatriste NYC Council Media Unit One in four New York City children live in poverty That s not a typo It s the reality of life here in America s biggest and richest city You may not realize this hard fact unless you re regularly interacting with people from all across the city So numerous pockets of poverty are spread across New York City not so far from pockets of privilege For example Brownsville one of the city s poorest neighborhoods is only five miles from brownstone Brooklyn home to specific of our richest We must perpetually remember that the opportunities countless of us enjoy especially when it comes to where we live and learn do not extend to all our neighbors Right now Gov Kathy Hochul the New York State Senate and New York State Assembly can make things right for the roughly children experiencing poverty here in our city Children s Defense Fund-New York and our youth advocacy partners call on lawmakers to pass the Working Families Tax Credit WFTC to alleviate the financial stresses that impact too numerous children and young families across our five boroughs Several ideas connected to the measure are being negotiated right now in Albany These include increasing the maximum credit per child to and indexing it to inflation eliminating the minimum income requirement for low-income families and expanding eligibility to cover children from birth to age All those ideas originated as recommendations from the New York State Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council CPRAC While we hope even more of CPRAC s recommendations will be adopted to help New York families thrive in the future we re encouraged by the strategic tools already proposed to address and eliminate child poverty right now We hope they will be included in the state s final budget when negotiations conclude soon We believe lawmakers should not make agenda for people without the people s voice Those who are living in poverty in a place where costs connected to childcare food and housing continue to skyrocket are the ones who know what will best help them their children and their families That is why we hold a positive outlook The WFTC will benefit thousands of New York City families if enacted with all the above in the budget These recommendations were put together by experts and people who work with and advocate for families with lived experience in New York It s extremely disappointing that New York has a massive budget and that we re even thinking twice about giving more of it to children and families who are going to shape the future of our city and state The WFTC will work because similar proposals have positively benefited the city s these initiative changes are not just sound economics they re proven tools to drive impactful change As evidenced by the American Rescue Plan Act of child tax credits have the ability to lift millions of children out of poverty ease financial burdens and improve child and family wellbeing When Congress allowed the temporary credit to expire child poverty rates in New York state drastically rose the following year surpassing pre-pandemic levels We understand there are several other requirements to be addressed in New York City but it cannot go without saying that poverty is a plan choice When you look at other states like Minnesota and see how they are expanding policies centering children and families and how they are working to reduce their poverty statistics one must ask why New York State cannot do the same If we continue the direction we are at the moment going especially with attainable federal cuts to vitality care training and population benefits it s viable nothing will really improve for children and families in New York If the WFTC is passed that s per child that can make a huge difference and allow families to concentrate on things that are authentically central to their day-to-day life like food housing and childcare and their children s long-term success Let s get this vital piece of measure across the finish line now for the sake of all young people in our city Khin Mai Aung is state director and Sabah Merchant is a senior plan associate at the Children s Defense Fund-New York The post Opinion Pass the Working Families Tax Credit appeared first on City Limits