In her U.S. News and World Report post, TCF policy associate Clio Chang explores a simply yet effective idea: a set amount of cash for all parents, regardless of income, as a way to combat child poverty:

Cash allowances are an effective policy when it comes to combating child poverty. The idea is simple: A set amount of cash would be transferred to all parents, monthly or weekly, depending on how many children they have. No other strings attached.

This idea may sound outlandish, given that as a nation we can’t even ensure tax credits that include a work requirement. For most U.S. politicians, cash allowances aren’t even on the radar. However, the truth is, these sort of transfers are neither rare nor unheard of. In fact, they’ve existed in Europe for decades, and have been the go-to anti-poverty tool in countries such as Brazil and Mexico.

Drawing from her longer work, Seven Lessons about Child Poverty, Chang explains why cash allowances are an improvement on tax credits as a method for alleviating poverty.

Read the full article here.