The Child Poverty Rate in the United States Has More Than Doubled

September 15, 2023

[Ed. Note: If you’re willing to acknowledge that “poverty” is generally defined as living on less than half of the median household income, then you’ll also be able to see how it’s a moving goalpost that can’t be pragmatically eliminated. At the same time, today’s people in living in “poverty” are more likely to be obese than starving.]

by Michael Snyder The Economic Collapse Blog

If you take an honest look at the numbers, the obvious conclusion is that the U.S. economy is rapidly going in the wrong direction. Delinquency rates are soaring, sales of previously-owned homes have declined by more than 32 percent over the past two years, inflation is starting to rise at a frightening pace again, large companies all over America are laying off workers, and we just witnessed the largest decline in real median household income in more than a decade. Sadly, it is often the most vulnerable members of our society that get hit the hardest when economic times get rough. According to the Census Bureau, the child poverty rate in the United States more than doubled from 2021 to 2022…

The U.S. poverty rate according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) was 12.4% in 2022, a rise of 4.6 percentage points from 2021. The poverty rate for children more than doubled year over year, from 5.2% to 12.4% — a record increase.

There is no way to spin that number to make it look good.