The National Center for Children in Poverty (NCCP) has released an updated set of Early Childhood State Policy Profiles that provides a two-generation view of current policies affecting children birth through age eight. The profiles give crucial visibility into each state’s progress in early care and education, health, and parenting and family economic supports.
NCCP is a national policy research organization that conducts policy analysis, research, and program development focused on reducing child poverty and promoting the healthy development and success of children in low-income families. It is housed at the Bank Street School of Education in New York.
In the current update to the profiles, NCCP has added a new policy benchmark that shows which states fund housing programs that provide rental assistance to low-income families with children to avoid eviction or homelessness. Currently, six states meet this policy benchmark. The profiles also show an increase in the number of states offering an accrual of at least five paid sick days from 10 to 12 states. In addition, nearly all states have extended unemployment insurance benefits until the end of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but only one state offers regular benefits for 28 weeks.
Alliance funding also makes possible NCCP’s well-known Young Child Risk Calculator, which shows the percentage of young children (by age bands) who are in poverty and deep poverty in each state and nationally, and characteristics of families in these groups.
“Ending child poverty begins with smarter policy choices, especially at the state level,” says Sheila Smith, Co-Director of NCCP. “The Alliance understands the deep consequences of state policy, and these important state-by-state resources would not be possible without their support.”
Follow these inks to view NCCP’s Early Childhood State Policy Profiles and the Young Child Risk Calculator.
