Decades of policy choices created the affordability crisis facing families today. A single income could support a household and raise children a generation ago, but that is no longer true for
millions of families. Over the past several decades, the cost of essentials has outpaced what families earn, and the squeeze falls hardest on those welcoming a new baby. The effects of H.R. 1 are making this crisis worse.

Economic Security Project‘s blueprint provides a new path forward that can be launched in the first days of a new administration. In Section II, we lay out the robust evidence that providing cash works. In Section III, we share four bold plans to expand the insufficient programs we have today into cash support systems for parents:

1. Create a national child allowance program for families with low incomes by expanding TANF’s use of its cash assistance authorities
2. Guarantee that families have access to cash during pregnancy and after childbirth to ensure the health of moms and babies with low incomes
3. Provide cash to make sure kids don’t enter the child welfare system just because their families are poor
4. Keep cash in families’ pockets by protecting them from price gouging on essential early
   childhood goods and services