The COVID-19 pandemic brought about a slew of political, financial, and social changes to the United States. Many of these changes will have a massive impact on the way we live our lives. For example, the United States showed a major increase in spending

• Author: Michael Bordonada
• Posted: 2024-08-08

However, there is good news: The United States has recently posted the most massive drop in poverty since statistics were being recorded. Many of these drops are being seen throughout much of the rest of the Western world as governmental aid programs increase, but the drops are particularly sharp with the United States.

Record declines

The numbers are clear: Poverty levels are declining in a big way. According to recent articles, 20 million Americans are expected to no longer qualify as impoverished. Compared to where these numbers were in 2018, this means that poverty levels will drop a stunning 45%.
The drops have occurred across all age groups, racial groups, and locations. Half of all children in poverty are expected to leave it.
This comes as a result of massive government spending on a variety of social programs, including enhanced unemployment benefits, a wildly popular child tax credit, stimulus checks, and increased food assistance benefits. However, many of these programs are temporary and expected to expire at the end of 2021.

Controversy with enhanced aid

Because the programs are so broad and so expensive, they are not without their critics. Some argue that these programs are too big and give too much money away, thus pushing people away from work. Others note that this has the benefit of potentially helping to break up "traditional families" and delay marriages, although there is ample evidence to show people using the enhanced government aid to increase their education and ultimately earn a better job.
A greater concern has been the shortage in the labor market. As has been documented throughout the country, many locations are suffering from major shortages of able bodies who are willing to work. Critics argue that this is a direct result of the enhanced unemployment aid, which they say has made it more economical for some people to stay at home and collect benefits, rather than to get a job. As a result, many states have ended enhanced unemployment benefits, hoping that doing so would force workers back into the job market.

Is it sustainable?

Despite the declines, there are real questions about the long-term ability of the United States to continue these programs. As noted above, the reason for this decline in poverty is because of a monstrous boost to federal government spending. This boost is occurring to the tune of an added $1 trillion dollars. Furthermore, this spending is being driven by deficit spending. In other words, as of yet, the United States does not have the tax revenue to meet these obligations on a regular basis. This is why many of these programs will expire in the near future. While there is no question that some of the people who have been lifted out of poverty will remain out of poverty, many more will likely fall back into it.
This begs the question: What comes next? Will the United States continues to spend at record levels, and if so, will it raise tax revenues in order to fund these social programs? Conversely, will it allow these programs to expire and allow individuals to return to poverty? These are broader conversations about governmental spending that have given the United States pause throughout its existence, and government officials do not appear able to speak with one voice about the future of many of these programs.
There will, unquestionably, be a push to keep some of these programs. Among them is the child tax credit, which Democrats are pushing to make permanent when they expire at the end of the year. It also appears possible that an infrastructure deal will happen in the future that will put tens of thousands of Americans to work, while simultaneously upgrading much of America's aging infrastructure.