Stimulus Spending Drove Poverty Lower Again in 2021, Census Bureau Reports

The federal government’s exceptional support for households in response to the pandemic lowered a widely followed measure of poverty last year, after doing the same in 2020, the Census Bureau reported on Tuesday.

The poverty rate fell to 7.8 percent in 2021, down from 9.2 percent the previous year, according to the Supplemental Poverty Measure, a yardstick that adjusts for geographic differences. It also includes wage income, taxes and the fullest account of government aid.

In addition, the share of children living in poverty sank to a low of 5.2...