A program giving direct, no strings attached payments to families that are struggling to make ends meet is about to spread in the state of Michigan.
Originally launched in Flint, the Rx Kids program is now expected to expand to five counties in the eastern Upper Peninsula after the approval of $20 million in state funding, reports the Detroit Free Press.
The program gives mothers $1,500 mid-pregnancy for things like food, prenatal care, cribs or anything else they deem necessary.
After the birth of their child, the families receive $500 a month for the first year of their life, amounting to a total of $7,500 in cash payments.
According to Rx Kids co-director H. Luke Shaefer, a similar initiative previously launched in Michigan brought immense benefits for families, but then child poverty ramped back up again after it ended.
“For that brief, shining moment, we lifted millions of children out of poverty. We saw food hardship among families with children fall to the lowest level that we’ve ever recorded. We saw the credit scores of families hit their all-time high.
And then we reversed course and weren’t able to extend that past the one year and we saw child poverty spike — the highest one-year increase in history. We saw food hardship increase and just the financial security of families doing worse.”
According to The University of Michigan, 17.6% of children under age 18 live in households below the federal poverty line.
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