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Before the tax maneuver, child poverty was already dropping--for decades

The expansion of the federal Child Tax Credit is listed in report after report as the reason for a sharp decline in child poverty in 2021.

But child poverty had already been in decline for years prior to the expansion. Nearly 28% of American children lived in poverty in 1993, but the figure for 2019 was just a bit above 11%.

What are the factors driving the rate downward, and what are the implications where we live? We pose those questions and more to Dana Thomson, a research scientist at Child Trends, which tracks many figures of child welfare.

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The Jefferson Exchange is Jefferson Public Radio's daily news program focused on issues, people and events across Southern Oregon and Northern California. Natalie Golay is the program's senior producer, Charlie Zimmermann is the assistant producer, and Mike Green hosts the show.