Boston Now: Housing, commuting and medical care pushes 9.4% of Bay Staters into poverty, Census data shows

The Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy also pointed to the stimulus payments as a reason why there was no commensurate spike in poverty in 2020 to go with the deepest unemployment spike since the Depression era.

“At the start of the health and economic crisis, we knew that we needed deep government investments to alleviate widespread hardship,” Aidan Davis, a senior policy analyst at ITEP, said. “Census data likely will reveal that stepped-up government investment significantly alleviated poverty … The last year and a half demonstrates that the nation can make a significant dent in poverty and improve economic livelihood for families across the country.” Read more