Child poverty rate has doubled in the US

The official poverty rate in the United States in 2022 did not change significantly compared to a year earlier, but the child poverty rate doubled, according to data from the US Census Bureau (Census).

“The official poverty rate for 2022 was 11.5%, with 37.9 million people living in poverty. Neither the level nor the number of poor people differed significantly from 2021,” it said. The poverty level in 2022 was set at $29,678 (more than 2.8 million rubles at the exchange rate at the time of publication) for a family of four.

However, in the United States, an increase in the additional poverty indicator was recorded (when studying it, the impact of government programs and tax breaks for low-income families is taken into account). From 2021 to 2022, it grew by 4.6% to 12.4%. One of its indicators is the child poverty rate (shows how many people under 18 live in families below the poverty threshold). It rose from 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% last year. REUTERS notes that this is due to the expiration of child benefits introduced during the covid-19 pandemic .

As the Financial Times reported, for the first time the United States decided to test the practice of paying child benefits in the summer of 2021. Families were paid monthly up to $300 (about 22 thousand rubles at the rate of 73 rubles per $1 as of July 2021) for each child under six years old and up to $250 (a little more than 18 thousand rubles) for those who have not yet turned 18 Columbia University then calculated that the payments would halve the number of children classified as poor.