Kids
Recent
Kids Count Data Center
MassBudget is home to KIDS COUNT in Massachusetts, a national and state-by-state effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation to track and improve the well-being of children across the United States. With these data, state organizations provide policy analysis based on evidence and shine a spotlight on pressing issues in order improve programs and policies for children and families.
ALL KIDS REPORTS
How Baby Bonds Could Reduce Massachusetts’ Growing Wealth Gap
Across Massachusetts, racial wealth gaps are among the widest in the country. Structural barriers prevent or challenge households of color from building assets that could lead to wealth equity. Baby Bonds can be a powerful way to reduce these disparities.
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How Much Will Each District Benefit from the New Child & Dependent Tax Credit?
The proposed Child and Family Tax Credit would help families by providing a refundable credit each year for each child under 13 and dependent adults over 65 years of age or with disabilities. This dashboard identifies – by legislative district - how many dependents would be eligible.
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Testimony in Support of H489/S301 on Affordable and Accessible Early Education
Policy Analyst Adam Jones urges the Joint Committee on Education to create a Commonwealth that features high-quality, affordable child care accessible to more families.
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New Census Data Highlights Need for Family Tax Credits Waiting in State House
While the Massachusetts Legislature debates two versions of expanded tax credits to improve affordability for families, new census data dramatically show what a difference these credits make to reduce poverty, especially for children.
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New Poll: Big Majority of Voters Support Child and Family Tax Credit that Reaches $600
Newly conducted polling shows 77% of registered Massachusetts voters support the creation of a Child and Family Tax Credit of $600. The Massachusetts legislature is currently debating two competing proposals, one of which would provide a per-dependent benefit nearly twice as large as the other.
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State-Level Child Tax Credits are Having a Moment in the Sun: Will Massachusetts Families be Left in the Dark?
The Massachusetts legislature is considering creating the Child and Family Tax Credit (CFTC), a refundable tax credit for families with children and adult dependents. It is important for our elected officials to choose a more generous option, as many of our neighbors’ household budgets strain under the weight of an affordability crisis.
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Letter to Governor-elect Healey and Lieutenant Governor-elect Driscoll on a Family Tax Credit
A letter to Governor-elect Healey and Lieutenant Governor-elect Driscoll on a consolidating different family tax supports into one simpler, fully refundable Family Tax Credit.
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Prospects for Investment, Stability, and Growth in Early Education in Massachusetts
As the challenges of the COVID pandemic continue to reverberate across the state, early education and care (EEC) providers persevere every day. Early care centers across the Commonwealth continue to deliver enriching support for young children while allowing parents to work and provide for their families. EEC has an essential role in keeping our state economy moving during these challenging times.
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ARPA & Federal Early Education Funds in MA
Early Education During the COVID Crisis Across Massachusetts, early education providers, family care homes, and Pre-K centers persevere each day through the challenges of the COVID pandemic. Early educators across the Commonwealth continue to deliver enriching care for young children while also allowing parents to work and provide for their families. This essential work keeps our economy moving. Fortunately, the federal government stepped up to respond to the challenges of COVID for early education. Funding is a key factor in how early educators have navigated the pandemic and kept classrooms open. At the start of the pandemic, the overall funding ...
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Massachusetts Cash Assistance – A MassBudget Data Droplet
The cash assistance program was created to be a reliable back-up for the lowest-income families; today the program reaches only a small share of families in need. Cash assistance (Transitional Assistance for Families with Dependent Children or TAFDC) provides a small monthly cash grant to families with children or to pregnant people only if they have little or no income. The amount of this grant is not enough to provide economic stability or help a family get back on its feet during hard times. Nor can this grant come even close to covering the costs of rent, diapers, school supplies, ...
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At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Executive Summary
At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts Executive Summary Read the full report here. PART 1: THE PROMISED DESTINATION. We may have promised the children of Massachusetts that they can arrive at a bright tomorrow full of opportunity, but we have allowed many obstacles to get in the way of that promise for too many of our children. On top of that, these past two years have created new obstacles, and have also put Massachusetts at an important crossroads. The twin health and economic emergencies of the pandemic and subsequent downturn have ...
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At a Crossroads Created by COVID: Families Moving Along the Road to Opportunity in Massachusetts
We may have promised the children of Massachusetts that they can arrive at a bright tomorrow full of opportunity, but we have allowed many obstacles to get in the way of that promise for too many of our children. On top of that, these past two years have created new obstacles, and have also put Massachusetts at an important crossroads. The twin health and economic emergencies of the pandemic and subsequent downturn have made long-standing racial and economic inequities worse.
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Early Childhood Coffee and Conversation: When the Bough Breaks
On January 7, 2022, the Boston Foundation Early Childhood team welcomed Colin Jones of MassBudget to the Coffee and Conversations series, for a closer look at the state of the Massachusetts chid care funding system, and the opportunities made possible by the inflow of federal pandemic stimulus dollars - funding that has proven critical to protecting and preserving the fragile child care system during a time of unprecedented disruption.
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Envisioning Equity: Federal Relief Funds for K-12 Schools in Massachusetts
Interested in learning what American Rescue Plan Act funds mean for the Commonwealth's K-12 public schools? Watch the full briefing and Q&A discussing how these federal programs can support our schools through the pandemic and into recovery.
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Towards the Other Side: Past the Pandemic and Beyond to an Equitable Recovery
Massachusetts children and families are beginning to look forward to the other side of the health and economic crises of 2020. But moving beyond the events of this past year will not mean that we leave the impacts behind. For many, the year of disruption and loss will leave its mark, especially for children of color who have been hardest hit as the pandemic and economic disruption exposed and made worse long-standing racial and economic inequities. Fortunately, newly-available, one-time federal funds will help begin to repair the damage created by the pandemic, especially if they are well-targeted to the communities ...
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