Research Note: How the Pandemic Could Skew Official Poverty Figures for 2019
“Figures due out on September 15 will likely show that official poverty fell in 2019, reflecting that year’s still healthy economy. The figures will likely exaggerate the improvement, however, because of the way COVID-19 interfered with collecting the poverty data. The Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS), the source of the figures, was underway when the pandemic hit, causing the Bureau to lose contact with thousands of interviewees, especially people with lower incomes.”