Columbia China Center reports on the “double pandemic” of COVID-19 and racial discrimination
New Yorkers of Chinese descent have been suffering from the “double pandemic” of COVID-19 and racial discrimination. Over half of study participants reported experiencing discrimination and one third an incident of harassment. The vast majority of New Yorkers of Chinese descent are worried about their own safety and that of loved ones.
Forecasting poverty during a crisis
In 2020, we established a novel method of forecasting poverty using the Supplemental Poverty Measure framework with a goal of providing projections of poverty rates throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Our forecasting data provides a real-time poverty data tool for policymakers.
Monthly poverty will spike without CARES Act unemployment benefits
This report projects monthly poverty rate estimates for January 2021. It examines poverty in the U.S. depending on whether or not pandemic-related federal unemployment assistance continues past December 2020. We find that if the remaining unemployment provisions of the CARES Act expire at the end of 2020, the number of people in poverty in January 2021 will increase by approximately 4.8 million.
Parental unemployment reaches historic highs during the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to high rates of unemployment and hardship for families with children with potential long-term consequences for child well-being and development. Urgent policy action is likely needed to prevent long-lasting, detrimental effects on child well-being and development.
Monthly poverty rates in the United States during COVID-19
This report presents monthly poverty rates in the U.S. before and throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. In contrast to measures of poverty based on a family’s annual resources, we project monthly poverty rates based on a family’s monthly resources. We find that the monthly poverty rate increased from 15% to 16.7% from February to September 2020.
The CARES Act could reduce poverty to pre-crisis levels if access is adequate
In response to rapidly rising unemployment rates, Congress passed the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which included nearly $500 billion in direct income transfers for families across the country. In this brief, we apply new forecasting methods to project the effect of the CARES Act’s income transfers on poverty rates.
Poverty in the United States could reach highest level in over 50 years
To what extent will the COVID-19 pandemic increase levels of poverty in the United States? In this brief, we apply a novel method for forecasting poverty rates in the United States using the Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) framework with a goal of providing projections of poverty rates throughout the COVID-19 crisis.
Families with children need cash during an economic crisis
The economic consequences of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are likely to be particularly severe for low-income households. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Unemployment Insurance programs are critical because they can provide timely additional income support for families. However, they do not reach the majority of households with children who are in poverty or near-poverty. Moreover, while SNAP benefits help with food budgets, they cannot be used to cover other critical expenses. As schools and other institutions close, providing cash (through a child allowance or fully refundable Child Tax Credit) to families with children is one way to ensure that all low-income families can meet their basic needs.