Child Trends, Poverty Solutions, and other leaders unpack a decades-long decline in child poverty, and more recent shifts that followed COVID-19 aid, to probe how well common poverty indicators have captured changes in child and family well-being. After discussing the implications for policy and policy discourse, a panel of voices representing research, advocacy, direct service, philanthropy, and human services will share what it takes to build a social safety net focused on economic well-being rather than poverty, including sharing their own efforts. Recorded on September 20, 2023.

Child Trends’ presentation draws heavily from our 2021 report entitled Lessons From a Historic Decline in Child poverty (https://www.childtrends.org/publicati...) and relies on data from the Census Bureau (https://www.census.gov/content/dam/Ce...) for the most recent child poverty numbers and the Columbia Center on Poverty and Social Policy (https://www.povertycenter.columbia.ed...) for historical child poverty information.