Poverty in this country is historically high and growing. Currently over 46 million Americans live in poverty; over 16 million of them are children. In America today, the younger a person is, the more likely they are to live in poverty,” Bishop Blaire wrote in a letter on July 25 to Congress. “Low-income tax credits are pro-work, pro-family and some of the most effective antipoverty programs in our nation.” Bishop Blaire noted that the Earned Income Tax Credit and the refundable Child Tax Credit “lift millions of American families out of poverty and help them live in dignity and with greater economic security.” He said that a just framework for spending cannot rely on disproportionate cuts in essential services to poor persons and that it would be unjust not to renew tax cuts for the working poor while addressing tax cuts for middle class and wealthy Americans.