Poverty fell overall in 2020 as result of massive stimulus checks and unemployment aid, Census Bureau says

The extensive federal relief money enacted during the coronavirus pandemic is widely credited by economists and policy experts with preventing another Great Depression. When looking at individual programs, the stimulus payments, alone, without taking into consideration expenses and other factors, would have lifted 11.7 million out of poverty, census officials estimate. And they said enhanced unemployed aid prevented 5.5 million people from falling into poverty. A separate report last week showed that, because of the aid, hunger did not rise in 2020.

Source: WP