(C) Common Dreams
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Study: 8 million Americans have fallen into poverty since May [1]
['Https', 'Www.Axios.Com Authors Newsdesk']
Date: 2020-10-15
Nearly 8 million Americans have slid into poverty since May, according to a Columbia University study reported by the New York Times.
Why it matters: The researchers found that the monthly poverty rate for September was higher than rates during April or May, and it also topped pre-crisis levels, "[d]ue to the expiration of the CARES Act’s stimulus checks and $600 per week supplement to unemployment benefits."
The finding comes as it appears unlikely that a deal will be reached on fresh stimulus aid before November's election.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Thursday said he would not put a potential $1.8 trillion+ deal struck by Democrats and the Trump administration on the Senate floor, saying the number is “a much larger amount than I can sell to my members."
What they found: "The monthly poverty rate increased from 15% to 16.7% from February to September 2020, even after taking the CARES Act’s income transfers into account," the Columbia University researchers wrote.
"Increases in monthly poverty rates have been particularly acute for Black and Hispanic individuals, as well as for children," they added.
"In April and May, the CARES Act was successful in offsetting potential increases in monthly poverty, but was not successful at preventing a rise in deep poverty, defined as having monthly income lower than half the monthly poverty threshold."
"The CARES Act’s stimulus checks and unemployment benefits lifted more than 18 million individuals out of monthly poverty in April, but this number fell to around 4 million individuals in August and September after the expiration of the $600 per week unemployment supplement."
“The Cares Act was unusually successful, but now it’s gone, and a lot more people are poor,” Zachary Parolin, an author of the Columbia study, told the Times.
Worth noting: A separate study by researchers at Notre Dame and the University of Chicago, found that 6 million people have slipped into poverty in the last three months, per the Times.
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[1] Url:
https://www.axios.com/2020/10/15/columbia-study-8-million-poverty-coronavirus-pandemic
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