CBPP: The 2009 Recovery Act — Even Better in Preventing Poverty Than We Thought

[ProSense]

The 2009 Recovery Act — Even Better in Preventing Poverty Than We Thought

We previously described the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) as one of the “most effective pieces of anti-poverty legislation in decades,” saying its temporary expansion of the safety net kept 4.5 million people out of poverty in 2009. Actually, the impact was greater than we thought.

We now know that, when one follows recommendations from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) on how to measure poverty more comprehensively, seven of ARRA’s provisions kept more than 6 million Americans above the NAS poverty line – that is, out of poverty – in 2009.



These ARRA effects (shown in the graph in red) included two new benefits — the Making Work Pay tax credit and a one-time payment of $250 to certain recipients of retirement and disability benefits — as well as expansions of existing benefits, such as the Child Tax Credit, Earned Income Tax Credit, unemployment insurance, and SNAP (formerly known as food stamps).

Unlike the official poverty figures, which count family income from cash, the NAS-based measures count family income from both cash and cash-like sources and tax credits. They also subtract child care and other necessary expenses from income and use a slightly modernized poverty line. (The newest refinement of the NAS-based measures is called the Supplemental Poverty Measure, which the Census Bureau will unveil later this month.)

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[WhiteTara]

1. the reason the pukes are against is because

it worked and the next one would work even better.

[ProSense]

2. Exactly. n/t

[young but wise]

3. +1

[paulk]

4. I thought ARRA was to promote a "recovery"

First time I've heard it refered to as anti-poverty legislation...

[LWolf]

5. Good to know we've prevented poverty. nt