Connecticut fails to notice that poverty is exploding

By Chris Powell

Clamor at the state Capitol for more money for various social programs suggests a comprehensive problem that has yet to be recognized by anyone in authority.

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Many state legislators are supporting more state tax credits to help households support their children — tax credits not just for low-income households but also for households with incomes as high as $250,000 a year. Such tax credits — payable in cash if households don’t have enough income tax liability to offset them — are a more sophisticated form of welfare.

More money is being sought to cover the rising numbers of people requiring state Medicaid insurance — medical insurance for the indigent — and to raise doctor payment rates that haven’t been substantially adjusted for inflation for 17 years. About 22% of Connecticut’s population is covered by Medicaid and about 40% of births in the state are to women on Medicaid. 

State government recently established a “baby bonds” program for children born on Medicaid. The program assumes that without “baby bonds” the children will be raised in poverty and remain poor when they reach adulthood. So now state government is appropriating $3,200 for each child born on Medicaid and investing the money in the expectation of giving such children $11,000 or more when they reach 18. 

Many legislators and Governor Lamont support a vast expansion of state-funded day care for households that can’t afford it and even for households that can. Last week rallies were held throughout the state in support of state government subsidies for day care. As traffic went by advocates waved signs reading “Honk if you want affordable child care.” That is, “Honk if you’d like others to pay for your kids.”

Two months ago the General Assembly and Governor Lamont enacted an emergency appropriation of $40 million for schools to cover the rising numbers and costs of students needing “special education,” many of whom are victims of neglect at home.

More money is being sought to help food banks assist the rising numbers of households that can’t afford to feed themselves. Last week Connecticut Foodshare said food insecurity in the state increased 10% in the last year, with more than a half million people not sure of where their next meal is coming from.

The Covid-19 virus epidemic is long over but chronic absenteeism in the state’s schools remains high. In New Haven’s high schools it has reached 50%.

All these developments proclaim that poverty is overtaking Connecticut, which still likes to think of itself as a prosperous state.

While elected officials and social-service groups recognize the increasing needs, they aren’t linking them and wondering about the underlying causes. No one in authority is asking: Where are all these people who can’t support themselves and their children coming from?

The sharp rise of inflation in housing, food, and energy prices during the Biden administration is a big factor. But poverty was worsening in Connecticut long before the inflation of the Biden years — along with open borders and transgenderism — caused voters to repudiate the administration in last November’s election.

Of course elected officials must be sensitive to the growing inability of people to support themselves. But throwing subsidies on top of subsidies doesn’t address the causes of impoverishment. Indeed, it may worsen inflation.

Any inquiry into the worsening impoverishment should ask questions that go far beyond inflation and additional subsidies. 

For example, how does a welfare system that for decades has been destroying the family, robbing children of fathers in their home, help them grow up?

How are children helped by social promotion in Connecticut’s schools, which now happily graduate illiterates and near-illiterates in the belief that self-esteem is more important than learning enough to become self-sufficient?

How is the cost of living reduced by letting municipal zoning impede development of less-expensive housing?

If, as the clamor at the Capitol suggests, Connecticut is falling apart under the weight of social disintegration, people in authority should summon the courage to acknowledge it and pursue its causes and not just keep trying to remediate its effects.

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Chris Powell has written about Connecticut government and politics for many years. (CPowell@cox.net)

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