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 dying of Queen Elizabeth II, the World Cup and, after all, the midterms. In typical FiveThirtyEight style, we’ve been reflecting on 2022 the way in which we do finest: by means of numbers. Right here, seven of our reporters share a number of the most necessary stats of the yr, highlighting large political selections, emotions of the citizens and hints at what’s to return 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 influence 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 determination in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’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.
Eternally chemical compounds
Per- and polyfluorinated chemical compounds, or PFAS, are utilized in all types of family merchandise, from nonstick pans to dental floss. These pervasive chemical compounds are harmful to human well being, and the federal government and trade 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 pointers for, and 4,700, the tough variety of completely 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, nevertheless it 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, People 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 necessary stats of the yr. 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 have been worse for Republicans than one would possibly count on, on condition that the president’s social gathering 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 without doubt one of the most necessary numbers of the yr. What Republicans will — and gained’t — be capable to do with that majority will outline American politics for at the very least the following two years.
Democratic trifectas
With Congress divided between Democrats and Republicans after the 2022 midterms, a number of the most necessary political shifts of the following few years may very well be coming on the state degree. These new insurance policies would possibly lean liberal as a result of, for the primary time in 12 years, extra People will reside 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 People 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!
