In 2020, U.S. family farm households received $4.3 billion in federal assistance during the Coronavirus pandemic from Economic Impact Payments. Researchers at USDA’s Economic Research Service say the estimated average was $924 for single, $2,408 for head of household, and $2,466 for joint filers. The disparity partly reflects the lower income thresholds for single households, which resulted in some not receiving the maximum payment and others not receiving payments at all. Additionally, since unmarried people with dependents were assumed to file as head of household, these households were estimated to have received an additional $500 per dependent. Among family farm households, ERS researchers estimated that 18 percent of single filers did not receive a payment, compared with 17 percent of head of household filers, and 13 percent of joint filers in 2020. In April and May 2020, U.S. households of all types, farm or otherwise, received more than $266 billion from the program.
The National Association of Farm Broadcasting and the American Farm Bureau Federation contributed to this report.