What a 12 months 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 loss of life of Queen Elizabeth II, the World Cup and, after all, the midterms. In typical FiveThirtyEight vogue, we’ve been reflecting on 2022 the way in which we do finest: by way of numbers. Right here, seven of our reporters share a number of the most essential stats of the 12 months, highlighting large political choices, emotions of the voters and hints at what’s to come back in 2023.
Poverty
In September, the U.S. Census Bureau launched its annual supplemental poverty charge for the earlier 12 months. That’s the poverty charge after accounting for the influence of key authorities packages focused at low-income households, amongst different issues. For reporter and editor Santul Nerkar, the defining variety of the 12 months was 7.8 %, the supplemental poverty charge for 2021 and lowest charge 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. Briefly order, many states enacted abortion bans, together with complete bans with out exceptions for rape or incest. For senior author Amelia Thomson-DeVeaux, the defining variety of the 12 months 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.
Without end chemical substances
Per- and polyfluorinated chemical substances, or PFAS, are utilized in all kinds of family merchandise, from nonstick pans to dental floss. These pervasive chemical substances 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 12 months: 4, the variety of PFAS the Environmental Safety Company launched new tips for, and 4,700, the tough variety of completely different PFAS chemical substances 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, however it reached unprecedented ranges within the 2022 midterms. That’s why 47 is the defining variety of the 12 months for politics and tech reporter Kaleigh Rogers. It’s the proportion of Republican candidates who ran for Home, Senate, governor, secretary of state and lawyer common this 12 months and didn’t settle for the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
Inflation
Heading into the midterm elections, Individuals advised pollsters that one concern was their high precedence: the financial system and inflation. For senior author Monica Potts, the 9.1 % inflation charge in June topped her listing of most essential stats of the 12 months. Right here she explores the methods — large 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 may count on, on condition that the president’s celebration normally 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 essential numbers of the 12 months. What Republicans will — and gained’t — be capable of do with that majority will outline American politics for at the very least the subsequent two years.
Democratic trifectas
With Congress divided between Democrats and Republicans after the 2022 midterms, a number of the most essential political shifts of the subsequent few years might be coming on the state stage. These new insurance policies may lean liberal as a result of, for the primary time in 12 years, extra Individuals will dwell 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 12 months. It’s the variety of Individuals who will quickly be dwelling in a state the place Democrats may have complete management over state authorities.
Thanks for watching, studying and listening to FiveThirtyEight this 12 months. We’ll see you in 2023!
