This Election Day, voters have the power to vote for policies that continue to bring us closer to a world where all of us can live out the American dream 

Today, the U.S. Census Bureau released its 2023 poverty data, which offers insight into the state of income, earnings, And poverty in the U.S. The data found:

• The national Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which accounts for benefits, rose by .5% in 2023 to 12.9%.
• The Child Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) rose by 1.3% in 2023 to 13.7%.
• The Child Supplemental Poverty Measure rose for Hispanic, Black, and Asian children.
• The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) in Massachusetts was 9.7%.

In response to the data, Kim Janey, former Mayor of Boston and president & CEO of Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) – a 200-year-old national nonprofit dedicated to dramatically improving the lives of people living in poverty – issued the following statement: 

“As the latest U.S. Census data reports an increase in the national Supplemental Poverty Measure for the second year in a row, our country has once again failed to do right by families nationwide. The 13.7% of children, particularly the 20.3% of Black children and 22% of Hispanic children, who continue to live in poverty are bearing the greatest burden of our failure.

Here in Massachusetts, it comes as no surprise that the Supplemental Poverty Measure for 2021 – 2023 was 9.7%, particularly in a state that’s among the most expensive places to live. In fact, the latest report from the Boston Indicators found that Boston has the second highest rate of homelessness in the country. We are simply not acting fast and bold enough to make meaningful progress in addressing these long-standing challenges.

As an organization that primarily serves women and children experiencing poverty, we are on the frontlines of seeing the real-life impacts of failed policies. Families continue to be forced to make impossibly tough choices between paying for diapers, food, housing, transportation, childcare, and life’s other necessities. Just last week, the USDA found that food insecurity rose for the second year in a row. We can and must do better.

We know what works to disrupt poverty. Pandemic-era policies that put more cash into the hands of families made historic progress in reducing child poverty, yet Congress let the clock run out and has failed to pass an extension. Not only does our country’s leadership need to deepen its investment in families, starting with the reinstatement of the expanded Child Tax Credit, we must tackle deep-rooted systemic crises, like housing affordability, that continue to put up barriers between families and their ability to move forward towards economic prosperity. If we want to have strong, stable families, we need strong solutions.

“Most importantly, as we fast approach Election Day, voters have the power to exercise their voice at the ballot box. We’ve long known poverty is a policy choice, and there’s a critical opportunity to vote for policies that continue to center families and bring us closer to a world where all of us can live out the American dream. It’s a choice for our future. Our children deserve better and the time to act is now.”

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Economic Mobility Pathways (EMPath) is a 200-year-old organization that dramatically improves the lives of people living in poverty. Because creating economic opportunity is multifaceted, EMPath's approach is too. EMPath offers a unique combination of direct services; a learning network of human services organizations; and research and advocacy for what works. This “virtuous circle” allows each part of the organization’s work to inform what it knows, does, and shares with others to seed systemic change. To learn more, visit empathways.org.