Congress spending plans risk slashing federal investment in the youngest children by half, threatening the future of our nation.
Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and the Social Services Block Grant (SSBG) represent nearly a third of all federal investments in the country’s children — and more than half of all investments in our infants and babies. But these programs are at imminent risk.
The spending proposal under consideration for the reconciliation process on Capitol Hill requires more than $1 trillion in cuts that can only be achieved by gutting programs that secure the health, nutrition, safety and economic stability of millions of U.S. children. Lawmakers would need to cut as much as $880 billion from Medicaid, which covers more than 30 million children, including 81% of children in poverty under the age of 6. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)— which provides food to 7.3 million families with kids and 4.5 million children under age 5— could be slashed by up to $230 billion. Increased SNAP benefits reduced the number of children living in poverty by nearly 6% in 2021, or more than 1 million children.
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