Washington, 13 September: According to a Census Bureau estimate, the poverty rate in the US rose to 12.4% in 2022, with child poverty more than tripling from 2021.
According to the study issued late Tuesday, the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM), which gauges whether individuals have adequate resources to meet their requirements, jumped 4.6 percentage points from a year earlier in 2022.
The report also revealed that the percentage of children living in poverty more than doubled, rising from 5.2% in 2021 to 12.4% in 2022.
According to the study, it was the biggest shift in child poverty since the organisation started keeping track of the index in 2009.
According to a research organisation called the Centre on Budget and Policy Priorities, there are now 15.3 million more Americans living in poverty as a result of the increase in poverty.
According to Sharon Parrott, head of the Centre for Budget and Policy Priorities, the increase in poverty is “stunning”.
The increase in the overall and child poverty rates, which is the highest on record in more than 50 years, “underscores the crucial role that policy choices play in the level of poverty and hardship in the country,” according to Parrott.
The SPM takes into account both income and the effects of non-cash aid, such housing and food assistance. Parrott said that the abrupt rise in child poverty was a result of the enhanced federal Child Tax Credit’s scheduled termination in 2022 and urged politicians to extend the benefit.
