The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan would reduce the number of people in poverty from around 44 million to 28 million, the Urban Institute said in the report released Wednesday. Direct payments to individuals of $1,400 for single people and $2,800 for married couples, which will be sent out by the Internal Revenue Service, would be the most effective of four anti-poverty provisions in the legislation, the report said.
Those other provisions include extended expansions of unemployment benefits and food stamps, as well as a temporary expansion of the child tax credit. The four tax and benefit provisions combined would slash childhood poverty rates by 50%, according to the report, which also found that the policies would reduce racial disparities in poverty rates in the U.S.
The U.S. House of Representatives approved the legislation on Wednesday with just one Democrat joining all of the chamber's Republicans in opposition. The legislation now goes to Biden, who said he would sign the bill into law on Friday.
--Additional reporting by Andrew Kragie. Editing by Vincent Sherry.
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