Who Was Lifted Out of Poverty by Stimulus Payments?

The stimulus payments the government distributed during the pandemic helped lift 11.7 million people out of poverty in 2020.

America Counts: Stories Behind the Numbers The more than $400 billion in two rounds of stimulus payments the government distributed during the pandemic helped lift 11.7 million people out of poverty in 2020, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) released earlier this week. The Census Bureau publishes SPM, an alternative to the official poverty measure that incorporates the value of noncash government transfers, taxes and necessary expenses into the resources a family has available to meet its basic needs. Read More With the recent release of income, poverty, and health insurance coverage statistics, the Census Bureau adds to the voluminous amount of data previously released that help to measure topics related to equity. These data show how different segments of the population are making gains or are impacted by the pandemic or the recent economic recession. Read More Help us spread the word about America Counts. Share this story on social media or forward it to a friend. Share This 2020 Income, Poverty, and Health Insurance The Census Bureau announced earlier this week that median household income in 2020 decreased 2.9% between 2019 and 2020, and the official poverty rate increased 1.0 percentage point. Meanwhile the percentage of people with health insurance coverage for all or part of 2020 was 91.4%. An estimated 8.6% of people, or 28.0 million, did not have health insurance at any point during 2020, according to the 2021 Current Population Survey Annual Social and Economic Supplement (CPS ASEC). Learn More About America Counts America Counts tells the stories behind the numbers in a new inviting way. It features stories on various topics such as families, housing, employment, business, education, economy, emergency management, health, population, income and poverty. Contact our Public Information Office for media inquiries or interviews. Don't miss an America Counts story! Subscribe here.

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