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We have verified the facts of many statistical claims Biden made in the speech – and found Biden to be very factual, although there are a few nuances to note. Here is an assessment of seven of the requests we reviewed:
Facts first: This figure is roughly correct, but it is based on a broad definition of “educators”.
Poverty
Biden said: “In total, the US bailout would lift 12 million Americans out of poverty and cut child poverty in half. That represents 5 million children lifted out of poverty. Our plan would reduce poverty into poverty. black community by a third and would reduce poverty. in the Hispanic community by nearly 40 percent. “
Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach, director of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University, said that “their assumptions appear reasonable and they are known to do careful analysis.”
Pre-existing conditions
Biden touted an executive order to ensure people can still receive unemployment benefits if they turn down a job offer because they believe the job will put themselves or their families at risk from Covid -19. He said, “Right now, about 40 percent of households in America have at least one limb with a pre-existing condition.”
Facts first: This figure is approximately correct, according to research data. “In fact, that’s probably an understatement,” said Cynthia Cox, vice president of the Kaiser Family Foundation, which studies health issues.
Covid-19 deaths
Speaking of the coronavirus crisis in the United States, Biden said: “We are 400,000 dead, they are expected to reach well over 600,000.”
Facts first: Different experts have different expectations, but Biden’s “well over 600,000” figure is, unfortunately, highly plausible.
Minimum wage and poverty
Boasting his proposal to raise the federal minimum wage to $ 15 an hour from the current $ 7.25 an hour, Biden said, “No one in America should be working 40 hours a week below the threshold. poverty. Fifteen dollars puts people above the poverty line. ”
Facts first: It is true that some people who are currently below the poverty line would fall above the poverty line if the federal minimum wage were raised to $ 15 an hour: the Congressional Budget Office estimated in 2019 that a salary a minimum of $ 15 “would move roughly 1.3 million people out of poverty on the net.” Others offer different estimates; Ben Zipperer, an economist at the Economic Policy Institute, a progressive think tank, said: “We think the CBO estimate is too pessimistic.” He said it was “more plausible” that between 1.9 million and 4.0 million people would be lifted out of poverty.
The CBO said families below the poverty line under current law would see an average 5.2% increase in their income due to the increase in the minimum wage, while families above the line poverty under current law would see an average 0.1% reduction in their income (in part due to a reduction in business income). The CBO added: “In an average week in 2025, the $ 15 option would raise the wages of 17 million workers who would otherwise earn less than $ 15 an hour. Another 10 million workers would otherwise earn. just over $ 15 an hour could see their wages increase. But 1.3 million more workers would become unemployed, according to the CBO’s median estimate. ”
“So as a labor standard – yes, a minimum wage of $ 15 could be accurately described as allowing most families to pass the poverty line if they work full time all year round,” said Jeannette Wicks-Lim, Associate Research Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst.
Wicks-Lim noted that there were nuances here. Some people have part-time hours, part-year jobs, or larger families; the cost of living varies considerably by location, but the official poverty line does not take this fact into account; exceeding the poverty line may mean that only one person has “escaped severe deprivation”, she said, and not that “he or she is able to maintain a decent standard of living”.
Hunger
Biden said, “We need to tackle America’s growing hunger crisis. One in seven households in America – one in seven – more than one in five Black and Latino households in America report not having enough to eat. “
Between December 9 and 21, 14% of adults, 24% of black adults, and 21% of Latino adults said they often or sometimes did not have enough to eat in the past seven days.
Tenants
Biden said, “About 14 million Americans – 14 million – have fallen behind on rent, and many face eviction.”
Facts first: Fourteen million is a plausible number that extrapolates somewhat from the December Census Bureau results.
Biden’s bailout would provide $ 25 billion in housing assistance to low- and middle-income households who lost their jobs during the pandemic (in addition to the $ 25 billion Trump approved in December). Another $ 5 billion is intended to help struggling households pay their utility bills. And an additional $ 5 billion is intended for states and communities to help those at risk of becoming homeless.
CNN’s Katie Lobosco and Tami Luhby contributed to this report.
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