Child poverty, Supplemental Poverty Measure

Why this row

Child poverty under the Supplemental Poverty Measure was 5.2% in 2021, the lowest on record, and 13.4% in 2024. The measure counts tax credits and transfers as income, and Congress sets both, which is why the row is binding on Congress and the anchor is the country's own 2021 result. The scored path is linear; the mechanism is a step, credits set at the level that yields 5.2% and indexed.

The path

linear as scored; the mechanism is a step, since the SPM counts tax credits and transfers that Congress sets

Each July 4 the row shows its baseline, this path, the latest official value and a status of ahead, on schedule or behind. As a binding row it also links the decisions by Congress that moved the number during the year.