The City of Baltimore plans to include a measure on its ballot this November that would provide new parents with a stipend of $1,000 at the birth of their child. Dubbed the “Baby Bonus,” this one-time payment is intended to address the city’s high rates of childhood poverty without raising taxes.
Fox News reports that the initiative has drawn enough support to obtain the 10,000 signatures required of a petition to reach the ballot. Organizers of the campaign note that it is modeled after a similar program in Flint, Michigan, that provides $1,500 to women around the middle of their pregnancy and an additional $500 per month for the first year after giving birth.
While the Baltimore program wouldn’t offer quite as much to new mothers as Flint’s, the organizers called the Baby Bonus a “step in the right direction.” They also suggested that the greater movement to provide mothers in need with assistance requires a systematic change at the federal level.
Underlying needs
The Fox report cites census data that estimates that some 31% of Baltimore’s children are born into poverty. It notes that studies have shown that children born into poverty are likely to remain in the same socioeconomic status for their entire lives. Nate Golden, a Baltimore teacher and president of the Maryland Child Alliance, noted that he sees this every year in his classroom:
"When you see what they're going through outside school, I'm still going to demand their best in the classroom, but it's just not enough," he said. "We have to take care of these underlying needs before we can get kids to focus on learning."
With an average of around 7,000 children born to the City of Baltimore each year, the Baby Bonus program is expected to cost about $7 million annually. This is not too outrageous, as it only accounts for about 0.16% of the city’s annual budget. Still, if passed, the city council will need to determine how to reallocate its funds to cover the cost while avoiding raising taxes.
