How U.S. Poverty Could Spike in the Last Half of the Year
Without a new stimulus and extended unemployment and SNAP benefits, millions of Americans will fall into poverty in 2020, an Urban Institute study finds.
A woman waits in line as food is distributed at the Ebenezer Seventh-day Adventist church on July 22, 2020 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
Photographer: Spencer Platt/Getty Images North AmericaMillions more Americans will be thrown into poverty if Congress fails to enact three policies meant to help families get through economic hardships related to the pandemic, according to a new study by the Urban Institute.
The report finds that the poverty rate for the last five months of 2020 will rise to 11.9% if expanded unemployment-insurance benefits, a second round of stimulus checks, and increased SNAP allotments are not approved, a significant increase over the projected annual rate of 8.9%. Those three measures are contained in the HEROES Act that was passed by the House in May but has yet to clear the Senate.