Poverty rates have dropped to their lowest level in more than a decade, workers’ wages are rising, children's hunger rates are falling, bankruptcy filings have plummeted, and more people had health insurance in 2020 than the year before, Politico reported. Many Americans of ordinary means are doing markedly better in key areas than they were before the coronavirus shutdowns crippled major parts of the economy, recent data and surveys show, suggesting that the trillions of dollars in government relief in the last year not only kept people afloat but also pushed lots of them further ahead. That’s fueling a debate over what role the government should continue to play in reshaping Americans’ livelihoods. Democrats say the gains offer a case study in what U.S. society could look like if Congress vastly expanded the social safety net — an argument that many are making as lawmakers weigh whether to shell out another $3.5 trillion on programs that would limit families’ child care expenses, make health insurance more affordable and offer permanent tax breaks to families with kids, among other provisions. “You have to concede that these changes are making a difference — that we are inching up a bit, and that there is a discernible reduction of poverty,” said Rep. Danny Davis, an Illinois Democrat who chairs the House Ways and Means subcommittee on worker and family support. “We are investing in the return of our economy.” But Republicans and others who oppose the additional spending on social programs say that enlarging the government safety net through policies like the expanded child tax credit would be prohibitively expensive, leave families dependent on federal money and destroy incentives to work. “The best way out of poverty and to raise the standard of living is not endless government checks but our job opportunities and growing paychecks,” said Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the top Republican on the Ways and Means Committee. “That provides unlimited opportunity for families, especially those trying to climb the economic ladder.
