Monthly Poverty Rate by age group
Child poverty fell to 12% in November, down from 20% one year earlier, thanks to monthly child tax credit payments.
Estimated monthly poverty rates by age group, U.S.
Supplemental poverty rate (all taxes and transfers included)
Source: Center on Poverty and Social Policy at Columbia University and Census Bureau, PEP. Notes: These monthly estimates are based on the supplemental poverty rate, which includes after-tax income and in-kind benefits. These estimates also include the impact of economic impact payments (stimulus checks), as well as expanded unemployment, SNAP, and other benefits.
Estimates of monthly poverty rates during the pandemic highlight the benefit of annual Child Tax Credit (CTC), Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), and stimulus payments for children and working-age adults. In 2020, these payments were sporadic, such that the child poverty rate increased to above pre-pandemic levels throughout the latter half of 2020. In 2021, the American Rescue Plan provided monthly CTC payments from July through December (Children who received Child Tax Credit benefits). By November 2021, child poverty was reduced to 12%, down from 20% one year prior.
Social Security, by far the largest American safety net program, was enacted after the Great Depression to stabilize the financial well-being of the elderly. 1 Unemployment insurance and Aid to Families with Dependent Children (commonly called “welfare”) programs were also enacted in 1935. Head Start, food assistance programs, and the EITC were instituted in the 1960s and 70s.2 Welfare was reformed in 1996 to include work requirements but, starting in 1998, CTC provided some support to families with children regardless of work status.3 In 2019, only $360 billion was spent on safety net programs such as the EITC, CTC, unemployment insurance, food assistance and child care. In contrast, $1 trillion was spent on Social Security. 4
1. “The Decision to Exclude Agricultural and Domestic Workers from the 1935 Social Security Act”. DeWitt. Social Security Bulletin. https://www.ssa.gov/policy/docs/ssb/v70n4/v70n4p49.html
2. “What are the major federal safety net programs in the U.S.?” Center For Poverty & Inequality Research. https://poverty.ucdavis.edu/article/war-poverty-and-todays-safety-net-0
3. “TAXPAYER RELIEF ACT OF 1997”. https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/PLAW-105publ34/pdf/PLAW-105publ34.pdf
4. “Policy Basics: Where Do Our Federal Tax Dollars Go?” Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. April, 2020. https://www.cbpp.org/research/federal-budget/where-do-our-federal-tax-dollars-go