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Did the enhanced child tax credit really reduce household poverty?

Early studies find that the enhanced credit reduced childhood poverty and food insufficiency.
"The expanded child tax credit did not have a negative short-term employment effect that offset its documented reductions in poverty and hardship," said Chris Farrell, Marketplace senior economics contributor.
Bryan Bedder/Getty Images for ParentsTogether

Government support credited with decline in poverty in 2020

Sep 14, 2021
The Census Bureau's supplemental poverty measure showed a big decline from 2019, despite a year of pandemic-induced economic disruption.
Pandemic relief helped more Americans stay out of poverty in 2020, but future poverty rates depend on what happens with the pandemic economy.
Alex Wong via Getty Images

The expanded child tax credit could "cut poverty in half"

Jun 28, 2021
Starting July 15, most parents will get monthly payments for half of the tax credit instead of a lump sum at tax time.
More parents will be eligible for the child tax credit this year. Above, a mother and daughter stand outside of a community food pantry in New York.
Spencer Platt via Getty

China's slow trains for the poor

Apr 20, 2021
There are 81 no-frills train routes left over from the Mao era to service far-flung areas. Who rides them?
A villager boards a slow train with a television strapped to his back in 2015. The train connected communities in Sichuan and Yunnan provinces that were not frequently served by China's modernized rail network.
Qian Haifeng

Diaper banks have been struggling to keep up with demand

Mar 30, 2021
Diaper banks provide free diapers and often other infant supplies to parents who need them. This year, they're busier than ever.
Kids use anywhere from five to 12 diapers a day (or more) for the first three years of their lives. That’s an expense of at least $80 a month. And that doesn’t include wipes.
Brandon Bell/Getty Images

States where it's harder to get unemployment benefits may see higher rates of poverty

Jan 28, 2021
A new study finds that in the least generous states, more families have fallen below the poverty line during the pandemic.
For most Americans getting jobless benefits, the money’s about to run out when all federal pandemic unemployment programs expire on Sept. 5.
Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images

Majority of Americans believe economy is rigged

Oct 16, 2020
More than 80% of Black Americans and nearly 70% of women say the economy is rigged in favor of certain groups. Experts say they're right.
Protesters in Los Angeles in May 2020.
Apu Gomes/AFP via Getty Images

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The pandemic threatens to push more people in Mexico into poverty

Oct 1, 2020
And Mexico doesn't pay unemployment insurance.
One economic researcher says almost 1 in 5 people in the Mexican labor force have lost their jobs. Pictured: Andres Tolentino Hernandez, who lost his job at a printing workshop when the virus hit.
Alfredo Estrella/AFP via Getty Images

Many are still waiting for unemployment, months later

Sep 25, 2020
For many of those who have now gone months without a paycheck or unemployment, things are dire.
Hundreds of people waited in long lines in Kentucky in June for help with their unemployment claims, months after they had initially tried to file.
John Sommers II/Getty Images

Unemployment benefits are all over the map

Aug 27, 2020
So we created an interactive map of unemployment benefits and average rent across all 50 states and the District of Columbia.
A sign at a gas station tells customers it is closed. Unemployment has reached alarming levels in the United States.
Spencer Platt/Getty Images