Income inequality is getting greater in Connecticut as the recovery continues. That’s the message from a new report which says the state needs to use tax policy to help poorer families catch up.
The recession officially ended five years ago, but Connecticut Voices for Children says for many in the state, it doesn’t feel like it. “Connecticut’s workers continue to face an economy with fewer jobs, falling wages and rising inequality,” said Wade Gibson, the group’s director of fiscal policy, introducing a new report called 'The State of Working Connecticut 2014."
Gibson said the data show the recession and slow recovery disproportionately affected younger and minority workers, who’ve seen their wages drop in real terms, and who are most at risk for long-term unemployment. That’s important not just for today’s workers, but for tomorrow’s.
"Demographically, those are the groups of people who are raising Connecticut next generation of workers, leaders and parents," Gibson said. "Close to a third of Connecticut’s children are growing up in poverty or near poverty, so for the entire state of Connecticut to prosper in the future, it’s essential that the children growing up in the families currently hard-hit by the recession are able to reach their full potential."
Voices for Children wants to see Connecticut restore the Earned Income Tax Credit to its previous levels - something that’s already been promised by the legislature. It’s also asking for state tax exemptions for taxpayers who are raising children. And it’s calling longer term for better access to early childhood education and high quality childcare, as well as improvements to K-12 schools.
