Poverty jumped by nearly 5 percent in 2022, the first such rise in more than a decade, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, as key federal stimulus programs and pandemic-era payments ended, leading to calls by the Biden administration on Tuesday for a return to such policies.
The Bureau said the supplemental poverty measure, or SPM, jumped to more than 12 percent. This measure is different from the official poverty rate, which stood at 11.5 percent, which comes to nearly 38 million people. That measure showed no statistical difference from the 2021 levels.
This rate of measuring poverty, however, excludes government assistance for low-earning families. The SPM rate takes into account how housing expenses vary depending on where you live in America and incorporates taxes and work and medical expenses when measuring poverty levels.
“The SPM does not replace the official poverty measure; however, it does provide a different metric of economic well-being that includes resources from government programs and tax credits to low-income families,” the Bureau explains.
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Using this approach, the Bureau found that more Americans, from children to the elderly, became poor in 2022.
Child poverty more than doubled to a little over 12 percent in 2022 after falling to a record low in 2021, a decline attributed to the child tax credit. About 12 percent of those aged 18 to 64 years old became poor in 2022 compared to 7.9 percent the previous year while 14 percent of Americans aged 65 and older were poor, a more than 3 percent increase from 2021.
The rise in poverty in 2022 is “likely connected to the end of several pandemic era programs,” said David Waddington, the chief of the Census Bureau’s Social, Economic and Housing Statistics Division.
“This increase was largely due to the expiration of the pandemic-era tax policy expansion and stimulus payment in 2022,” added Liana Fox, assistant division chief, Economic Characteristics, Social, Economic, and Housing Statistics Division.
The news that poverty has risen in the U.S. sparked calls to expand stimulus programs, especially at a time when high interest rates and the cost of living are squeezing the pocketbooks of Americans.
“No child should grow up in poverty, and I will continue to fight to restore the expanded Child Tax Credit to give tens of millions of families the tax relief and breathing room they deserve,” President Joe Biden said in a statement.
He blamed Republicans in Congress for the expiration of the policy.
“The rise reported today in child poverty is no accident—it is the result of a deliberate policy choice congressional Republicans made to block help for families with children while advancing massive tax cuts for the wealthiest and largest corporations,” Biden said.
Newsweek has reached out to the office of House Speaker Kevin McCarthy via email for comment.
Even as Washington has struggled to expand the stimulus programs credited for helping to stave off poverty, some states have taken matters into their own hands and have introduced child tax credits or expanded on existing programs. At least 14 states across America have instituted such policies, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.
The end of stimulus programs wasn’t the only thing that hurt Americans in 2022. Inflation hit 8 percent in 2022, almost double from the previous year, hurting earnings.
Overall, Americans saw their household income fall by more than 2 percent in 2022 to nearly $74,600.
Income estimates used in the analysis reflect the changes in the cost of living in 2022, the Census Bureau said.
“Between 2021 and 2022, inflation rose 7.8%; this is the largest annual increase in the cost-of-living adjustment since 1981,” it said.