Half of Americans living in deep poverty are childfree adults because it's harder to access certain tax and government assistance without kids.
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America's DINKs — dual-income couples with no children — are known for having disposable income and spending their paychecks on major investments, luxury vacations, and early retirement.
These households have previously told Business Insider that they can spend extra money on their lifestyle because they don't have any child-related costs. By definition, DINKs aren't necessarily rich, but they do have a reputation for living a life of freedom and excess cash.
A growing number of child-free adults, however, are falling through the cracks of the US economy. Many low-income childfree adults fall into the ALICE category — people who are asset-limited, income-constrained, and employed. Twenty-nine percent of US households make too much to qualify for government assistance but not enough to comfortably afford daily life. And ALICEs who aren't parents face unique challenges: it is especially difficult to qualify for financial help or tax credits without young children, even if you need the help.
According to a report published in April by the Brookings Institution, the US doesn't have a strong financial safety net to support childfree ALICEs. This is partly because having financially dependent children is a prerequisite of some government assistance programs.
Poor, non-elderly adults who are not raising children and don't qualify for disability benefits made up nearly 106 million people in 2017, according to a Census analysis. What's more, they have a higher risk of experiencing homelessness and long-term poverty, per the Brookings report.
Low-income, childfree adults have a higher likelihood of falling into poverty, and often stay in poverty long-term because they can't access assistance, wrote Robert Greenstein, the author of the Brookings report.
"The safety net for these non-elderly childless adults is so limited, those non-elderly adults who are poor tend to be poorer than others living in poverty," wrote Greenstein, who is also a visiting fellow of economic studies for the Brookings Institution, which is affiliated with The Hamilton Project, an economic policy initiative.
The report found that half of the Americans living in "deep poverty" — those with incomes that are at or below 50% of the poverty line, which is $7,290 annually for one person — are childfree adults not receiving disability benefits.
Greenstein wrote that this population is at a disadvantage when applying for government support, especially as it comes to tax credits and housing assistance, even if their household income is low.
For example, they don't qualify for the child tax credit, which allows families with dependents to receive thousands of dollars in tax breaks each year. The Earned Income Tax Credit — which offers refundable tax credits for low- and moderate-income workers — is also very limited for childfree employees, who receive fewer than 4% of the EITC's overall benefits, according to the Brookings report.
Greenstein also wrote that over 7 million low-income adults who are between the ages of 18 to 61 and don't live with minors pay more than 50% of their income on rent — making them severely rent-burdened. The majority of these adults don't receive any state or federal rental assistance.
Additionally, parents can more easily access SNAP food benefits than childfree adults because they are exempt from having to work a required amount of hours each week to receive assistance.
Many Social Security and Medicare programs also primarily offer assistance to older adults, excluding adults under 62.
Although strengthening the US financial safety net for this population is complex, Greenstein offered a few solutions. He suggested expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit to benefit more adults without children, along with removing the extra qualifications childfree adults must meet to access SNAP benefits.
An expansion of Medicaid through the Affordable Care Act would also allow more adults to get the healthcare they need — even if they don't qualify for disability benefits or Social Security, Greenstein said.
Are you making an income above the poverty line but still struggling to afford daily life? Have you faced challenges qualifying for government assistance because you don't have children? Reach out to this reporter at allisonkelly@insider.com.
