Please click here to ask your legislators to co-sponsor An Act to Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty (HD 1158 / SD 430), the legislation filed by Rep. Decker and Sen. DiDomenico to raise cash assistance grants by 20% per year until they reach 50% of the federal poverty level — currently $915 per month for a family of 3 — and then increase grants each year to keep up with inflation.
Even with the 10% increase implemented in January of this year, cash assistance grants are still far too low to meet families' basic needs. The maximum TAFDC grant for a family of 3 is only $652 per month. For an elder or disabled individual, the maximum EAEDC grant is just $334 per month.
Cash assistance (welfare) is intended to meet families' basic needs, but grants have lost half their value since 1988 due to inflation.
Meanwhile, the cost of necessities like toilet paper, diapers and children's Tylenol had doubled, tripled, or even quadrupled even before the COVID-19 pandemic. These grant levels leave Massachusetts families with children, elders, and individuals with disabilities living in Deep Poverty, meaning their income is below half the federal poverty level — $915/month for a family of three.
The impact of deep poverty on kids can be severe:
- Health and emotional damage
- Toxic stress
- Impaired school performance
- Homelessness and housing instability
Legislation filed by Representative Marjorie Decker (HD 1158) and Senator Sal DiDomenico (SD 430), would set a floor for benefits so that no one in Massachusetts will have to live in Deep Poverty. For more information, visit the Lift Our Kids Coalition website here.
The COVID-19 pandemic has made the need to address our inadequate safety net even more acute. Please ask your state legislators to co-sponsor HD 1158 / SD 430 to Lift Kids Out of Deep Poverty!
To join local efforts to support this legislation, contact the Coalition for Social Justice by email or phone.
