WISER Data Portrait | Liberation Day Tariffs

Main Findings

2.46 million households and 6.36 million people are pushed below the SPM poverty line in the lowest income quintile. Adding the second quintile brings national totals to 2.62 million households and 7.37 million people.
Women head 1.70 million crossing households — 69 percent. Black women account for 483,828 households (20%), Hispanic women for 444,434 (18%), and White women for 634,106 (26%). All three groups fall below the poverty line in large numbers, driven by different household structures.
Nearly 70 percent of people who fell below the poverty line live in never-married households — 4.36 million people. Never-married households without children account for 60 percent of all people pushed below the poverty line (3.78 million), in households averaging 2.6 people.
Every household sat within 7 to 440 dollars above the SPM threshold before the tariff. The food cost increase — ranging from 19 to 519 dollars — exceeded that buffer in every case. These households had no savings margin to absorb it.
Men head 756,907 crossing households — 31 percent. White men account for 321,316, Black men for 219,005, and Hispanic men for 160,487.

Households and People Pushed Below the Poverty Line by Liberation Day Tariffs
By Race, Sex, and Marital Status — Lowest Income Quintile, 2024

Race / Sex	Married	Separated	Divorced	Widowed	Never Married	Total
Women
Asian Women	18,594	8,962	12,268	25,808	5,739	71,372
People	43,862	11,222	12,268	26,207	56,800	150,359
Black Women	31,815	31,015	71,087	47,589	302,322	483,828
People	62,299	34,115	83,121	48,232	761,960	989,727
Hispanic Women	82,895	61,748	76,608	45,042	178,140	444,434
People	169,622	68,990	82,212	45,042	747,655	1,113,521
Indigenous Women	3,995	—	5,254	4,549	3,752	17,549
People	7,040	—	7,710	4,549	37,682	56,980
Multiracial Women	8,149	3,580	9,576	240	29,185	50,730
People	8,149	3,580	9,576	240	172,240	193,785
White Women	72,271	68,688	198,077	88,590	206,480	634,106
People	173,039	71,234	218,419	104,016	607,217	1,173,926
Total Women	217,719	173,993	372,870	211,818	725,618	1,702,019
People	464,011	189,141	413,306	228,286	2,383,554	3,678,298
Men
Asian Men	28,455	—	—	5,923	7,689	42,067
People	50,073	—	299	5,923	77,505	133,800
Black Men	34,095	16,334	42,023	20,094	106,459	219,005
People	55,324	17,877	46,125	20,094	594,465	733,886
Hispanic Men	70,424	12,516	21,171	5,749	50,628	160,487
People	148,678	18,200	23,546	5,749	630,291	826,465
Indigenous Men	1,948	—	2,491	—	6,064	10,503
People	6,404	—	2,491	735	36,710	46,340
Multiracial Men	341	—	459	—	2,729	3,529
People	2,244	—	459	—	92,720	95,423
White Men	106,903	4,737	62,594	32,415	114,667	321,316
People	173,294	4,737	80,546	38,096	548,204	844,876
Total Men	242,166	33,587	128,738	64,181	288,236	756,907
People	436,017	40,814	153,466	70,597	1,979,895	2,680,790
Total — Households	459,885	207,580	501,608	275,999	1,013,854	2,458,926
People	900,028	229,955	566,772	298,883	4,363,449	6,359,088

Source: WISER · U.S. Census Bureau CPS ASEC 2025 · WISER calculations from federal microdata
Household counts weighted using asecwth; people counts weighted using asecwt. Lowest income quintile only. National totals including second quintile: 2,624,297 households / 7,370,147 people.

Policy Relevance

A flat percentage tariff on imported food functions as a regressive consumption tax. The 2.62 million households identified here were not below the SPM poverty threshold before Liberation Day. The tariff eliminated their savings. The concentration of households pushed below the poverty line in never-married households reflects proximity to the poverty line, not people living alone. These are multi-person households pooling resources, yet still sit within dollars of the SPM threshold. SNAP expansion, targeted transfers, or tariff rollbacks on food staples would reduce the harm for the households identified here.

Methodology Note

Data from IPUMS CPS ASEC 2025 public use file, income year 2024 (ipums.org). Race follows Census definitions; Hispanic origin overrides race. SPM poverty status uses the pre-constructed spmpov flag from the Census Bureau SPM research file. Tariff shock = 12.5% of SPM family resources × 5.6% tariff-driven price increase (Yale Budget Lab, 2026). A household falls below the poverty line when the tariff shock exceeds its gap between SPM resources and the SPM threshold. Unit of analysis: household reference person (relate=101). Household counts weighted using asecwth; people counts weighted using asecwt. Income quintiles constructed from SPM family resources on the full sample prior to restriction to reference persons.

How to Cite:
Sharpe, Rhonda V. (2026). Households Pushed Below the Poverty Line by Liberation Day Tariffs, by Race, Sex, and Marital Status, 2024. WISER Data Portrait Series. Women's Institute for Science, Equity and Race. Available at: www.wiserpolicy.org/data-portraits/liberation-day-tariffs-poverty-2024