Census: Relief Payments Staved Off Hardship in COVID Crash

September 14, 2021by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, Associated Press
Census: Relief Payments Staved Off Hardship in COVID Crash
People ride their bikes past a homeless encampment set up along the boardwalk in the Venice neighborhood of Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The share of Americans living in poverty rose slightly as the COVID-19 pandemic shook the economy last year, but massive relief payments pumped out by Congress eased hardship for many, the Census Bureau reported Tuesday.

The official poverty measure showed an increase of 1 percentage point in 2020, indicating that 11.4% of Americans were living in poverty. It was the first increase in poverty after five consecutive annual declines.

But a more complete supplemental measure of poverty, which takes into account income streams such as stimulus payments, actually showed that the share of people in poverty dipped after the aid was factored in.

The pandemic shutdown sent tremors through the economy last year. In April alone, more than 20 million workers lost their jobs. Unemployment offices paid out a weekly average of 20 million claims last year. The economy has rebounded since, but employment is still about 5 million jobs below pre-pandemic levels.


Congress passed five bipartisan COVID-19 response bills last year, totaling close to $3.5 trillion and signed into law by then-President Donald Trump. This year Democrats pushed through President Joe Biden’s nearly $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan on party-line votes. Its effects are not reflected in the Census report.


Though some of the federal aid last year was delayed for reasons from wrangling over costs to problems with distribution, on the whole it insulated American families from economic disaster that would have compounded the public health crisis. Some groups were left out, such as people not legally authorized to be in the country.

As Americans fought over measures such as mask wearing and closing down businesses and community life, lawmakers of both parties were motivated to take dramatic action, said economist Bruce Meyer, a University of Chicago expert on poverty.

“You had Democrats who were very focused on helping those who were unemployed and hurting, and you had Republicans who were willing to do many things to help the reelection of their president, so there was a confluence of incentives, or of desires, by politicians on both sides,” he said. 

Trump ultimately lost reelection but the Census report provides evidence that’s relevant to the current debate over Biden’s $3.5 trillion social infrastructure plan, said public policy analyst Robert Greenstein of the Brookings Institution think tank.


“For people who have a cynical view that nothing much government does works effectively, particularly on the poverty front, it will be harder to maintain that view,” said Greenstein, who founded the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a nonprofit advocating on behalf of low-income people.

The Biden economic plan extends tax credits for families with children, which is seen as a strategy for reducing childhood poverty and its long-term consequences.

A+
a-
  • census
  • COVID crash
  • relief payments
  • In The News

    Health

    Voting

    Census

    Aging America: Baby Boomers Push Nation's Median Age to Almost 39 as Fewer Children Are Born

    The United States grew older, faster, last decade. The share of residents 65 or older grew by more than a... Read More

    The United States grew older, faster, last decade. The share of residents 65 or older grew by more than a third from 2010 to 2020 and at the fastest rate of any decade in 130 years, while the share of children declined, according to new figures... Read More

    May 1, 2023
    by Dan McCue
    Blacks, Hispanics More Likely to Report Long COVID Symptoms

    WASHINGTON — Black and Hispanic respondents were more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to report COVID-19 symptoms lasting... Read More

    WASHINGTON — Black and Hispanic respondents were more likely than other racial or ethnic groups to report COVID-19 symptoms lasting three months or longer, according to a new Household Pulse Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau. The Household Pulse Survey, an experimental online survey representative... Read More

    South Carolina US House District Ruled Racial Gerrymander

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Federal judges ordered South Carolina lawmakers to draw new congressional maps, ruling Friday that the U.S.... Read More

    COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — Federal judges ordered South Carolina lawmakers to draw new congressional maps, ruling Friday that the U.S. House district lines of a seat flipped by Democrats four years ago were intentionally redrawn to split Black neighborhoods to dilute their voting power. The state... Read More

    Activists: Survey of Black People in US in Its Homestretch

    More than 100 racial justice groups, led by a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, are making a last... Read More

    More than 100 racial justice groups, led by a co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, are making a last push on a large-scale survey that will be the basis for a public policy agenda focused on the needs of Black people who often are not... Read More

    May 31, 2022
    by Reece Nations
    Census Bureau Launches Post-2020 Review Operation 

    SUITLAND, Md. — The Census Bureau began the process of contacting around 40,000 eligible governments on Tuesday to determine if... Read More

    SUITLAND, Md. — The Census Bureau began the process of contacting around 40,000 eligible governments on Tuesday to determine if certain populations were undercounted in the 2020 national census. The bureau’s Post-Census Group Quarters Review operation was brought in response to public feedback submitted after official... Read More

    In 1st Full Year of Pandemic, Biggest Metros Lost Residents

    After returning to metro San Francisco following a college football career, Anthony Giusti felt like his hometown was passing him... Read More

    After returning to metro San Francisco following a college football career, Anthony Giusti felt like his hometown was passing him by. The high cost of living, driven by a constantly transforming tech industry, ensured that even with two jobs he would never save enough money to... Read More

    News From The Well
    scroll top