NYC mayor: Fathers missing in fight to cut poverty

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Tuesday said that fighting poverty now requires enlisting fathers, explaining the last decade of progress stemmed mainly from putting mothers to work.

Speaking in Washington, D.C., the mayor also proposed making the earned income-tax credit more generous by letting younger individuals qualify and increasing the income limits.

Calling the earned income-tax credit the "best anti-poverty program ever devised," the independent mayor, who is a potential presidential candidate, added:

"If we are going to achieve another round of substantial gains like we experienced post-1996, then we have to do more to connect fathers to jobs and to their families."

In 1996, new work requirements for welfare recipients were enacted under former Democratic President Bill Clinton.

Bloomberg, a former Republican, praised those reforms for taking aim at "dependency on government," which he said was a principal cause of poverty.

New York City's mayor said his plan would help 19.7 million Americans -- adding 10.5 million people to the current program.

Though New York City is home to some of the nation's wealthiest individuals, about 1.5 million of its 8.4 million residents live in poverty, Bloomberg said.

Another important cause of poverty is a lack of education, said the mayor, who won a second term partly by telling voters to hold him accountable for improving the city's schools.

Cutting the age limit for the earned income-tax credit to 21 from 25 years old, and making other adjustments, including higher income limits, would let people who make $11,000 a year get nearly $1,000 more in after-tax income, Bloomberg said. Those individuals now only get $86, he added. The state and city earned income-tax credits would add another $350.

The proposed higher income limits, for example, would rise to $18,000 from $12,000 for single adults who have no children.

DEADBEAT DAD? FUHGETTABOUT IT!

But Bloomberg would penalize parents who fail to pay child support.

"If you owe child support and you're not current on your payments, no check from the IRS. Period," he said.

To guard against individuals who might try to earn just the minimum needed to qualify for the credit, Bloomberg recommended requiring filers to work at least 26 weeks a year.

The mayor released his plan on the same day that the Census Bureau said the national poverty rate in 2006 edged down to 12.3 percent from 12.6 percent. But he said this measurement was "bankrupt" because it does not include food stamps, Medicaid, subsidized housing and the earned income-tax credit.

If his proposal became reality, it would increase the cost of the federal plan by $8.5 billion.

"That's not a small chunk of change -- but there is no doubt that with more Americans working, and more fathers working and paying child support -- our economy -- and our whole society -- will benefit enormously," the mayor said.

Bloomberg, who made billions of dollars from his media company, next month starts testing another anti-poverty plan: offering cash rewards to a small group of individuals.

Using $50 million of private funds, the program will give high schoolers, for example, $600 for each state standardized test they pass, while adults can earn $150 a month for working full time.

Urging the nation to set aside "partisan bickering" and let the data "drive" decisions, he added: "You have to be willing to stick your neck out on policies where the results are unknown."