The recently released Poverty in the United States 2024 report from the United States Census Bureau reported that 10.6 percent of the population, or 35.9 million people, fell below the official poverty line. Importantly, the alternative Supplemental Poverty Measure (SPM) was also released. It gives a more comprehensive accounting because it includes both cash and noncash benefits and subtracts necessary expenses. According to that measure, the Census reported that 12.9 percent of us, or 43.7 million people, were below the SPM threshold.

That there is so much poverty in a country as rich in resources and wealth as the United States is unconscionable. The degree of poverty in the US is a choice. The figures below show policies that work, and each could be expanded to apply to a broader base of people and made more generous in an uncompromising effort to eradicate poverty. Furthermore, our response to the pandemic made it abundantly clear that we are able to quickly reduce poverty with effective policies — it is only will that stands in our way.

It is clear that we could do much more to alleviate poverty, and provide stability for those who are above the poverty line but are exposed to a high degree of economic insecurity. It is also inevitable that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act recently passed by Republicans will exacerbate poverty in the coming years. The $790 million cut to Medicaid alone will disproportionally hit the most vulnerable amongst us — those that already experience high rates of poverty. Instead, we chose to make the rich in America richer.

The figures below report numbers from the SPM contained in the recent report. The first four figures here are policies that lifted at least a half million people out of poverty. The last figure highlights the degree to which medical expenses contribute to poverty – another strong indicator that a robust universal health care system is long overdue in the US. Medical expenses should not expose so many of us to bankruptcy and poverty.  (A full list of policies may be found in Table B-7 of the Census report).

This first appeared on CEPR.

The post We Know What Works! Current Policies That Help to Mitigate Poverty appeared first on CounterPunch.org.

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