July 2024

Between 2020 and 2022, Congress made a number of investments that offset the economic shock of the COVID pandemic. These included expanded unemployment compensation, protections against losing public health insurance, funding to sustain child care providers, and a temporary expansion of the child tax credit that cut child poverty in half.

Since then, pandemic-era aid programs such as extra SNAP benefits, continuous eligibility for Medicaid, and child care stabilization grants have expired. And Build Back Better—a major effort to make transformative policies and investments in children and families such as a fully refundable child tax credit and paid family and medical leave permanent—failed in the Senate. At the same time, people and communities with low incomes have benefitted from other legislative and administrative actions since the pandemic—including student loan forgiveness, child care affordability measures, and stronger labor protections.

CLASP has identified several areas where our policymakers need to take further action to ensure economic security for people with low incomes. In 2022 CLASP published “Paving a Pathway to Prosperity,” a series that examined ways policymakers could provide greater investments in economic security and opportunity for children and families, young adults, and workers.

In our 2024 series, “A Path Forward,” we examine the progress made in key policy areas and what work remains. The series envisions a more equitable and stable future for communities of color, immigrant communities, and communities with low incomes, among others. It offers a reminder to policymakers, advocates, and the public that policies providing economic and social protections benefit all of us.

The series offers a roadmap to continue the essential work that will ensure all families receive the access, support, and care they need and deserve. And it lays out what’s at stake if we lose ground on the progress already made.