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This video is a part of our sequence “The Numbers That Outlined 2022.”
Transcript
Probably the most essential numbers of the yr that you just may not have heard of is 7.8 p.c. That’s the share of Individuals who had been dwelling in poverty in 2021, in line with the latest supplemental poverty price, which was launched by the U.S. Census Bureau in September of 2022. This metric, versus the official poverty price, captures how many individuals live in poverty after accounting for the affect of key authorities packages focused at low-income households.
In the course of the pandemic, the federal government spent unprecedented funds to help lower-income households. So this is without doubt one of the first clear measurements we’ve of how COVID stimulus influenced poverty in America. And seven.8 p.c is, the truth is, the bottom recorded poverty price on document, because the Bureau began monitoring this metric. Included in that determine is simply 5.2 p.c of American kids who lived in poverty in 2021, a 46 p.c drop from 2020 and likewise the bottom determine we’ve seen.
Quite a lot of the drop in poverty could be ascribed to the federal government’s COVID-19 aid efforts in 2020 and 2021, together with the expanded youngster tax credit score, which helped considerably cut back youngster and total poverty in America by giving low-income households with kids additional money. For all that we frequently discuss Congress not with the ability to legislate or being caught in gridlock, it appears clear that it loved some of the unquestionable coverage victories in latest U.S. historical past: lifting hundreds of thousands out of poverty.
However after all, it’s extra difficult than that. For a similar causes that each one that authorities support helped cut back poverty, its absence will probably assist carry poverty again. You’ll be able to’t completely clear up poverty with a short lived inflow of money.
The final federal COVID stimulus checks went out all the best way again in March of 2021, and the expanded youngster tax credit score was phased out on the finish of final yr. By early this yr, it appeared that youngster poverty was rising once more, and lots of Individuals reported not with the ability to pay for primary wants. Inflation is part of that — and a few would argue, spurred on by the additional stimulus. And now, rising rates of interest — and the worry of a recession — additionally loom giant for lower-income households.
So whereas simply 7.8 p.c of Individuals dwelling in poverty counts as a coverage victory, count on that quantity to be larger subsequent yr.
Extra details about the SPM chart: The Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) estimates for 2019 and past mirror the implementation of revised SPM methodology; extra data is obtainable in “Poverty in the US: 2021” report from the US Census Bureau, Appendix B. The information for 2017 and past mirror the implementation of an up to date processing system. The information for 2013 and past mirror the implementation of redesigned revenue questions.
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