New research by LEO's Jim Sullivan and co-authors estimate that federal stimulus and expanded unemployment insurance payments between April and June substantially reduced the number of people in poverty, even when millions of workers were suddenly laid off or furloughed.
Had both of those programs not been in place, the effects of the economic shock caused by the pandemic would have increased poverty by 13.2 million people. But there are temporary poverty reductions, because of the one-time nature of the $1,200 check and the July expiration of the supplementary $600 weekly unemployment insurance benefit.