What a 12 months 2022 has been. There was so … a lot … information. We noticed record-high inflation, warfare in Ukraine, a landmark Supreme Courtroom session, persevering with results of the pandemic, the Winter Olympics, the demise of Queen Elizabeth II, the World Cup and, in fact, the midterms. In typical FiveThirtyEight trend, we’ve been reflecting on 2022 the best way we do greatest: by way of numbers. Right here, seven of our reporters share among the most vital stats of the 12 months, highlighting huge 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 p.c, 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 Courtroom launched its determination in Dobbs v. Jackson Ladies’s Well being Group, overturning Roe v. Wade because the regulation of the land. In brief 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.
Endlessly 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 12 months: 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, nevertheless 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 basic this 12 months and didn’t settle for the legitimacy of the 2020 election.
Inflation
Heading into the midterm elections, People informed pollsters that one problem was their high precedence: the economic system and inflation. For senior author Monica Potts, the 9.1 p.c inflation charge in June topped her checklist of most vital stats of the 12 months. 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 have been worse for Republicans than one may count on, provided that the president’s celebration 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 vital 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, among the most vital political shifts of the subsequent few years could possibly be coming on the state degree. These new insurance policies may lean liberal as a result of, for the primary time in 12 years, extra People 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 12 months. It’s the variety of People who will quickly be dwelling in a state the place Democrats can have complete management over state authorities.
Thanks for watching, studying and listening to FiveThirtyEight this 12 months. We’ll see you in 2023!
