WGBH: Prof. Azzi-Lessing Explains How Cash Assistance Reduced Poverty in U.S. During COVID-19
In a recent interview with WGBH, Prof. Lenette Azzi-Lessing discussed how cash assistance, such as government stimulus checks, had an overwhelmingly positive effect on individuals and families struggling with poverty. “Early on, there was grave worry that the most vulnerable individuals and families–those with little or no savings and those living paycheck to paycheck–would fall into deeper poverty and those above the poverty line would become poor.” Azzi-Lessing explains. However, these assumptions were proven wrong by the decreasing poverty rate in 2020 and 2021. “The fact that the US poverty rate went down during the pandemic shows that the safety net works. The stimulus checks and supplemental unemployment funds helped to prevent an increase in poverty and played a significant role in reducing it.”
Azzi-Lessing goes on to say that these trends contest the U.S.’s recent history with government aid: “Elected officials on the right often say that ‘throwing money’ at the problem of poverty doesn’t work, when in fact, programs such as SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – commonly referred to as food stamps) and tax credits lift millions of struggling Americans, including large numbers of children, out of poverty every year.”
The COVID-19 pandemic provided a unique opportunity to test government cash assistance. “Reductions in poverty despite high unemployment during the initial year of the pandemic provide further evidence that relatively modest amounts of government assistance can lift individuals and families out of poverty and prevent others from becoming poor.” Azzi-Lessing continues. “Going forward, we should protect and expand the safety net to enable those at the bottom of our economy to live secure and dignified lives.”
In addition, she adds that the shift in the U.S. administration during the pandemic has offered benefits that would positively impact Americans outside the realms of the country’s top 1%. “Given that the massive tax cuts under the previous administration mainly helped the wealthiest Americans and corporations, it’s well past time to help those living at or below the poverty line as well as the middle-class. The Biden Administration’s proposed infrastructure bill and budget contain several items to do just that, including subsidies for childcare and paid family leave; supports for those working in essential but poorly paid caregiving jobs, like home health aides; and continuation of the Child Tax Credits provided in the American Rescue Plan.”