Poverty rate increased in the US in 2022: Census Bureau

Poverty increased sharply in the last year in the US, new data published by the Census Bureau on Tuesday (September 12) has shown. The rising cost of living and the government pulling the plug on federal programmes that provided aid to families during the pandemic were cited as a few of the many reasons that contributed to increased poverty, particularly among children.

In total, 12.4 per cent of Americans lived in poverty in 2022, which was a significant uptick from 7.8 per cent in 2021, the bureau said. Inflation played a part in the increase as nominal gains were cancelled out byrecord-high inflation numbers.

The report stated that inflation-adjusted, median household incomes in the US fell by 2.3 per cent in 2022, compared to the year prior - making it the third straight year when median household incomes had declined.

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Notably, in 2021, a family of four living in a rental home wasconsidered poor if the income was less than$31,453. However, the metric shot up to $34,518 in 2022 as families below this number were classified as poor in the report.

Additionally, the poverty rate for children in 2022 doubled from the previous year, primarily due to the loss of the expanded Child Tax Credit

"The steeper relative declines in post-tax income at the bottom and middle of the income distribution are attributable to the expiration of a number of tax policies," Census Bureau official Liana Fox was quoted as saying by news agency AFP.

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Biden reacts

President Joe Biden, reflecting on the damning data, blamed the GOP lawmakers for refusing to extend Child Tax Credit.

"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," said Biden.

"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," he added.

The White House added that more recent data might "tell a more optimistic story" as inflation had cooled in the past few months.

Experts have warned that the increase in poverty, particularly amongst children, could worsen over the next year if the government and politicians fail to fill in the financial gaps with social safety net programmes for struggling families.

(With inputs from agencies)

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