Poverty rate, term by term
Every term lined up from its inauguration. Context is everything: compare the start of a term with the trend it inherited and with what was happening in the world (recessions, pandemics), all of which are on the full poverty rate chart.
Of the 5 completed terms with data, the poverty rate rose fastest under George W. Bush, at +0.24 pts/yr against −0.60 pts/yr in the four years before, and fell fastest under Donald Trump (1st term), at −0.52 pts/yr against −0.48 pts/yr in the four years before.
Numbers
| President | During term | 4 years before |
|---|---|---|
| Donald Trump (2nd term) | no data | no data |
| Joe Biden | 11.9% → 12.1% +0.05 pts/yr | −0.52 pts/yr |
| Donald Trump (1st term) | 14.0% → 11.9% −0.52 pts/yr | −0.48 pts/yr |
| Barack Obama | 13.2% → 14.0% +0.10 pts/yr | +0.13 pts/yr |
| George W. Bush | 11.3% → 13.2% +0.24 pts/yr | −0.60 pts/yr |
| Bill Clinton | 12.8% → 11.3% −0.14 pts/yr | — |
| George H. W. Bush | no data | no data |
| Ronald Reagan | no data | no data |
| Jimmy Carter | no data | no data |