Stimulus checks, unemployment benefits, and SNAP kept 13 million out of poverty in January

Monthly poverty rate declines to 13.2% in January 2021

Monthly SPM poverty rates, January 2020 through January 2021

The monthly SPM poverty rate declined from 16.1 percent in December 2020 to 13.2 percent in January 2021, according to our latest projections. The decline is driven almost exclusively by the temporary income supports the U.S. Congress passed in late December 2020. These income supports include the payment of one-time $600 per person stimulus checks, a $300 per week federal supplement to unemployment benefits for 11 weeks, and a 15 percent increase in the maximum value of SNAP benefits for 6 months.

Absent this recent round of COVID-19 economic relief, which also includes a continuation of unemployment benefits paid out through the Pandemic Unemployment Assistance (PUA) and Pandemic Unemployment Emergency Compensation (PEUC) programs, the monthly poverty rate in January 2021 would have been 17.4 percent, comparable to its rate (17.2 percent) in December 2020. Thus, the December 2020 COVID-19 economic relief package contributed to a 4.2 percentage point reduction in monthly poverty (13 million individuals) in January 2021.

Results for different age and racial and ethnic groups can be found on our forecasting monthly poverty data page. In the coming weeks, February 2021 poverty estimates will also be released.