In March 2020, when the global economy shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19, many economists predicted the worst. Experts said we were about to see levels of poverty in America comparable to the widespread suffering of the Great Depression. But that didn’t happen. In fact, poverty in the U.S. fell to 9.1% in 2020 — the lowest rate on record. 

Economists largely attribute this historic drop in poverty to pandemic safety net programs like stimulus checks, unemployment checks, and the child tax credit. Together, these social safety net programs helped Americans pay rent, put food on the table, and continue to contribute to the economy – which likely increased spending and kept businesses from shuttering.

Trickle-downers may try to convince you that these safety net programs encourage Americans not to go back to work – but that’s not what the data shows. States that ended additional unemployment benefits early didn't see an increase in employment, and after the benefits expired everywhere, the September jobs report was lackluster at best. That means the larger benefits clearly didn't convince people to stay home, be lazy, and stop participating in the economy. In other words, benefits performed exactly as they should.

Over the last year and a half, we’ve learned that pandemic social safety programs successfully pulled 8.5 million Americans out of poverty, created jobs, and helped the economy. These programs weren’t rigidly means-tested or challenging to access, the way many benefits have been for the last 40 years – and they worked far better. So, that leads us to an important question: Why can’t Americans have a robust social safety net all the time – even when the pandemic is over? 

The fact is, our creaky old benefits systems just don’t serve the modern economy. Now that pandemic programs have ended, we’re at a crossroads: We can either learn from last year and expand our social safety net OR we can follow the advice of trickle-downers by continuing to invest in only the wealthiest Americans. Please, answer our live poll to tell us which path you think we should take:

Should the U.S. expand its social safety net?

Thanks for helping us build the economy from the middle out. 

Paul Constant