2023 U.S. Census Poverty Data Shows the Consequences of Failing to Apply Lessons from Pandemic Anti-Poverty Measures

FROM THE CRIMINALIZATION OF RACE AND POVERTY PROJECT AT THE INSTITUTE FOR POLICY STUDIES

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

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Washington, D.C. – Every September, the U.S. Census Bureau unveils crucial data on Americans’ poverty, health, and income for the previous year. The just-released 2023 results underscores the clear impact of enacting and then failing to renew effective solutions to reduce poverty.

“We failed again to learn the lessons of the successful pandemic anti-poverty measures,” warned Karen Dolan, Director of the Criminalization of Race and Poverty Project at the Institute for Policy Studies. “Data from 2023 shows that the Supplemental Poverty Measure ticked up to 12.9 percent, and the child poverty rate increased from 12.4 percent to 13.7 percent. It is vital that lawmakers enact and expand the anti-poverty solutions that have been proven to work, so we can decrease rather than increase the number of American families experiencing poverty.“

 If the threshold had been set using a different measure for inflation, calculated the same way as the Official Poverty Threshold, the Supplemental Poverty Measure would actually clock in at 12 percent — a modest decrease, statistically similar to the prior year.

Either way, the impact of pandemic anti-poverty measures – and the failure to renew them – is clear. Census data revealed that in 2021, 45 million fewer people were living in poverty than in 2020, despite the global pandemic and massive job losses. Stunningly, child poverty had been cut nearly in half, thanks to an expanded Child Tax Credit, and childhood hunger also fell, resulting in a record-low child poverty rate of just over five percent. Unfortunately, census data from 2022 showed a dramatic spike in poverty, especially child poverty, as the pandemic income supports expired, and there was no bipartisan action to extend them. Had the expanded Child Tax Credit been in place in 2023, it could have reduced child poverty from its current 13.7 percent down to 8.6 percent.

The American Rescue Plan of 2021 passed critically needed investments that paid off. It extended Unemployment Insurance, and nutrition assistance programs. It paused Student loan payments. It provided rental assistance and grants for small businesses to stay afloat. Healthcare subsidies kept people from losing coverage, and federal investments helped people to heat and cool their homes. The smart investments kept people from poverty and the economy strong as we experienced one the most rapid economic recoveries in US history.

The dramatic reduction in economic hardship in 2021 proves that healthy public investment in our families and communities works. Yet conservatives in both parties in Congress refused to extend or renew these successful programs, so child poverty and overall poverty spiked dramatically in 2022. This disturbing and preventable outcome continued in 2023.

Some key highlights:

• Had the expanded Child Tax Credit been in place in 2023, it could have reduced child poverty from its current 13.7 percent down to 8.6 percent.
• Overall, median household income increased by 4 percent, bringing the United States back in line with the pre-pandemic peak of 2019. 
• Increases were seen across income brackets, but full-time, year-round male workers saw a 3 percent increase in median earnings, whereas the same female workers saw only a 1.5 percent increase. 
• While white households saw over 5 percent increases in household income, Black, Latinx, and Asian household incomes saw no statistically significant rise from 2022.

Meanwhile, despite the destructive unwinding of pandemic support for programs like Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, the U.S Census Bureau 2023 data shows that 92 percent of Americans are covered by health insurance, not statistically different from 2022, with the biggest gains accruing to low-income as well as Black and Latinx people, according to Healthcare.gov. 

This is a testament to the remaining pandemic health enhancement – the Affordable Care Act’s premium subsidies, which allowed record numbers of Americans to afford health care through the ACA Marketplace. These subsidies expire in 2025, and unless Congress acts quickly to renew them, nearly 4 million people will lose access to health care coverage.

“Congress should learn from our experience with the pandemic social safety net and renew funding for critical proven anti-poverty solutions — along with the other expansions they’ve allowed to lapse. As the poverty data from 2021, 2022, and now 2023 show clearly, we must robustly invest in our families for the health of the nation, the economy, and the well-being of our children,” Dolan explained. “Each year that we refuse to do so will further entrench us in poverty and inequality. A different, better future is possible, and we know how to achieve it – we did it in 2021. All we need is the political will to do it again.”

To speak with IPS Criminalization of Race and Poverty Project Director Karen Dolan for comment or interviews, contact IPS Deputy Communications Director Olivia Alperstein at (202) 704-9011 or olivia@ips-dc.org. 

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