This year’s Kids Count Data Book identifies the EITC as a means of child poverty alleviation and Rhode Island’s new budget includes an increase in the state’s EITC.

• Children’s Savings Accounts (CSA) are gaining momentum in Michigan, thanks to two CSA providers. The programs have enrolled over a thousand kindergarteners who will eventually use the money for postsecondary education.
• The Kids Count Data Book, an annual report that ranks states on child poverty, recognizes the Earned Income Tax Credit as one of the best tools to keep America’s children out of poverty.
• Rhode Island’s Governor signed off on a new budget that would increase the state’s Earned Income Tax Credit from 12.5 to 15 percent.
• Oxfam America and the Economic Policy Institute released a report detailing the status of America’s working poor. Expanding the EITC is one of four policy solutions to help low-income Americans.
• The Washington Post looks at what families sacrifice to cover expensive housing, including healthy food, health care, and crucial asset development.