First-time parents in the city of Baltimore, Maryland, could receive a “baby bonus” of $1,000 if a new proposal is approved by voters.
The proposal, put forth by a group of teachers in the city, is meant to help reduce childhood poverty from the moment a new baby is born. Many families in the city struggle with poverty as they bring new children into the world.
Recently, organizers behind the proposal were able to secure the 10,000 signatures that were necessary for the question to be put before voters as a ballot initiative for the November election.
The campaign that the group ran relied heavily on old-school canvassing efforts. They also created a catchy logo to go along with the campaign, featuring a flying cartoon stork that held a bag of money in its beak, instead of a baby.
The proposal is based loosely on another program that was implemented in Flint, Michigan, this year. There, women can get $1,500 during their pregnancy, as well as $500 every month during the first year after they give birth.
The Flint program, according to local officials, is the first of its kind in America.
Some countries in Asia and Europe have recently experimented with giving families cash payments that are larger than the one proposed in Baltimore. However, the aim of those programs is to encourage people to have more children, not to address poverty among children.
The organizers of the proposal have said that there needs to be nationwide systemic change for families to truly be lifted out of poverty. However, the new payments they have proposed could provide a modest financial boost that could serve as an important first step for many families.
The group behind the proposal, Maryland Child Alliance, was co-founded by Nate Golden, a high school math teacher in the state. He commented on the effort recently:
“If we’re going to spend a limited amount of money, where do you get the most bang for your buck? Research says at birth. This could literally have a lifelong impact on a kid.”
Golden added that his hope is that the program could demonstrated to other elected politicians in the city of Baltimore — and well beyond the city — that voters strongly desire new policies that would help vulnerable children in their area succeed.
In Baltimore, it’s estimated that 31% of children who are of school age experience poverty, census data shows. Across the country, childhood poverty fell during the COVID-19 pandemic, but that was thanks in large part to many federal relief programs that put extra money in millions of people’s pockets.
Since 2022, though, the childhood poverty level has now increased to roughly 12%, as all of those programs have now ended.
One of the biggest issues that this proposal seeks to address is the fact that it’s very hard for poor people to climb the economic ladder. Research has shown that children who are born into the lowest income bracket are likely to remain at similar levels for the remainder of their lives.
