Instead of enacting policies that would reduce poverty & hardship, this President and the Republican majority in congress have pushed the megabill and other policies that weaken programs Census data show lifted millions out of poverty in 2024.
www.cbpp.org/blog/analyzi...

The #ChildTaxCredit lifted 2.4 million children out of poverty in 2024, but making a $2,200 credit fully refundable could have lifted 1.4 million more children, an opportunity Congress and President Trump missed. www.cbpp.org/blog/analyzi...

In our analysis of the House bill, we showed how people in families with income above $500,000 have average annual incomes of $1.5 million. This bill will make our debt soar & increase inequality in every state. There's nothing beautiful about that. www.georgetownpoverty.org/issues/food-...

See our paper for full methodology. We used the Census Bureau’s ACS & the latest available published tables from the IRS, which are for tax year 2022. To be consistent with the IRS data, families are defined using tax units and income is defined using adjusted gross income.

The House bill will exacerbate already extreme levels of income inequality.

In Wyoming, Nevada, and Florida, the average annual income of families above $500,000 is more than 70 times the average income of families participating in SNAP or Medicaid.
docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Some of the figures by state show even larger disparities.

In West Virginia, 38% of people live in families participating in SNAP or Medicaid while less than 1% of people live in families with incomes above $500,000.

Go here for data for all states: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Given these data, it's shocking how the House bill cuts #SNAP & #Medicaid by more than $1 trillion, while giving roughly the same amount of money in tax cuts to families above $500,000.

With average annual incomes of $1.5 million, do these families really need another round of tax cuts?

Nationwide, 31% of people live in families participating in #SNAP or #Medicaid earning an average $30,000 a year.

Meanwhile, only 2% of people live in families with income above $500,000, with average annual incomes of $1.5 million.

Economic & health security policies are stronger today than in ‘79, though many still struggle to afford the basics. Recent proposals that would take health coverage & food assistance away from people would increase hardship and reverse this progress. www.cbpp.org/research/fed...

Looking at families in poverty using the official poverty measure in 2019 (before the pandemic), CBO data show that 68% of their total income including non-cash and tax benefits but excluding health benefits comes from “money income,” which is primarily earnings.

Comparing to the late 1970s when far fewer people were covered by Medicaid and overall health costs were lower, CBO itself warns that the rising costs of #Medicaid and #Medicare “should not be interpreted” as a rise in families’ ability “to meet their basic needs.”

Second, even in 2021, that 25% figure treats all #Medicaid & #Medicare costs like cash income to families – and acts as though the high medical costs of a subgroup of people with low-income reflects increased purchasing power for most low-income people.

First, as CBO stresses, 2021 was unusual because “several new temporary transfer programs were implemented in response to the economic disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic.” www.cbo.gov/publication/...

Some are pointing to data for 2021 from CBO to claim that the share of income of families in poverty that comes from work “dropped to an all-time low of around 25%,” seemingly signaling “a dramatic increase in dependency.” Here’s why that’s misleading. waysandmeans.house.gov/2025/01/08/n...

Contrary to some claims, most recipients of need-based govt assistance either aren’t expected to work — such as children, the elderly & people with disabilities — or are in working families. Assistance supplements low wages & helps make ends meet during periods of unemployment.