American Poverty Rates Soar After Pandemic-Era Financial Aid Expired

By Yehudit Garmaise

After sinking to a record low of 5.2% in 2020, the American poverty rate rose to 7.8% in 2021, and then in 2022, soared up to 12.4%. Last year’s high number of Americans who are in need of financial government assistance showed the largest increase in one year on record, the U.S. Census Bureau said on Tuesday.

In New York, mortgages have reached new heights, so homeowners are financially strapped, and mortgage brokers are seeing large decreases in their businesses, residents say.

“The whole real estate industry is negatively affected by the economy: Big Time,” said Yossi U, who works on 13th Avenue. “The job market in Boro Park, especially those in the construction industry, also seems tighter than ever. Although it is hard to really know the exact numbers.”

In 2020 and 2021, pandemic-era federal funds provided direct payments, enhanced unemployment and nutrition benefits, increased rental assistance, and an expanded Child Tax Credit to American families in need.

But by 2022, nearly all of the federal “safety net” programs had expired, which left many American families fighting uphill to stay afloat as the costs of food and housing continued to surge.