What a yr 2022 has been. There was so … a lot … information. We noticed record-high inflation, conflict in Ukraine, a landmark Supreme Court docket session, persevering with results of the pandemic, the Winter Olympics, the demise of Queen Elizabeth II, the World Cup and, after all, the midterms. In typical FiveThirtyEight vogue, we’ve been reflecting on 2022 the best way we do greatest: by numbers. Right here, seven of our reporters share among the most vital stats of the yr, highlighting huge political selections, emotions of the citizens and hints at what’s to come back in 2023.
Poverty
In September, the U.S. Census Bureau launched its annual supplemental poverty fee for the earlier yr. That’s the poverty fee after accounting for the affect of key authorities applications focused at low-income households, amongst different issues. For reporter and editor Santul Nerkar, the defining variety of the yr was 7.8 %, the supplemental poverty fee for 2021 and lowest fee on report. It was the primary concrete measure of how COVID-19 stimulus cash affected poverty in America.
Abortion
In June, the Supreme Court docket launched its choice in Dobbs v. Jackson Girls’s Well being Group, overturning Roe v. Wade because the legislation of the land. In brief order, many states enacted abortion bans, together with whole bans with out exceptions for rape or incest. For senior author Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, the defining variety of the yr was 10,000 — that’s what number of fewer authorized abortions there have been in simply the primary two months after Roe v. Wade was overturned.
Ceaselessly chemical compounds
Per- and polyfluorinated chemical compounds, or PFAS, are utilized in all kinds of family merchandise, from nonstick pans to dental floss. These pervasive chemical compounds are harmful to human well being, and the federal government and business are lastly beginning to crack down on them. That brings us to senior science reporter Maggie Koerth’s numbers of the yr: 4, the variety of PFAS the Environmental Safety Company launched new tips for, and 4,700, the tough variety of totally different PFAS chemical compounds on the market.
Election deniers
Denying the outcomes of the 2020 presidential election was the cornerstone of many Republican campaigns this election cycle. Election denial is hardly a brand new factor, but it surely reached unprecedented ranges within the 2022 midterms. That’s why 47 is the defining variety of the yr for politics and tech reporter Kaleigh Rogers. It’s the proportion of Republican candidates who ran for Home, Senate, governor, secretary of state and legal professional normal this yr and didn’t settle for the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
Inflation
Heading into the midterm elections, Individuals informed pollsters that one difficulty was their high precedence: the economic system and inflation. For senior author Monica Potts, the 9.1 % inflation fee in June topped her listing of most vital stats of the yr. Right here she explores the methods — huge and small — that historic ranges of inflation affected American lives in 2022.
The Republican margin within the Home
The outcomes of the 2022 election had been worse for Republicans than one would possibly anticipate, on condition that the president’s get together often loses floor within the midterms. Within the U.S. Home, Republicans gained a majority however solely a slim one. They gained by solely 9 seats, which for editor Maya Sweedler is among the most vital numbers of the yr. What Republicans will — and gained’t — be capable of do with that majority will outline American politics for no less than the following two years.
Democratic trifectas
With Congress divided between Democrats and Republicans after the 2022 midterms, among the most vital political shifts of the following few years could possibly be coming on the state stage. These new insurance policies would possibly lean liberal as a result of, for the primary time in 12 years, extra Individuals will stay in states completely managed by Democrats than by Republicans. That’s why senior elections analyst Nathaniel Rakich picked 140 million as his defining stat of the yr. It’s the variety of Individuals who will quickly be dwelling in a state the place Democrats could have whole management over state authorities.
Thanks for watching, studying and listening to FiveThirtyEight this yr. We’ll see you in 2023!
