cover letter to be a support worker

Support Worker cover letter examples

Are you looking for your next role as a support worker?

Then you need a strong cover letter that’s going to secure you an interview.

But we understand that you’re always on hand to support others, so now it’s our turn to support you.

Let us help you find your dream job by creating a standout application. Check out our top tips and support worker cover letter examples below for guidance.

CV templates 

Support Worker cover letter example 1

Support Worker cover letter example 2

Support Worker cover letter example 3

The Support Worker cover letter examples above should give you a good idea of the type of content you need to include in your own cover letter, and how it should be structured.

But if you’re really looking to wow recruiters and get your CV in front of the very best employers, then check out our guidance on how to write your own effective cover letter below.

How to write a Support Worker cover letter

Here’s how you can write your own eye-catching cover letter, broken down into simple steps.

Write your cover letter in the body of an email/message

When writing your Support Worker cover letter, it’s best to type the content into the body of your email (or the job site messaging system) and not to attach the cover letter as a separate document.

This ensures that your cover letter gets seen as soon as a recruiter or employer opens your message.

If you attach the cover letter as a document, you’re making the reader go through an unnecessary step of opening the document before reading it.

If it’s in the body of the message itself, it will be seen instantly, which hugely increases the chances of it being read.

Start with a friendly greeting

To kick your cover letter off, start with a friendly greeting to build rapport with the recruiter instantly.

Your greeting should be personable but professional. Not too casual, but not too formal either

Go with something like…

• Hi [insert recruiter name]
• Hi [insert department/team name]

Avoid old-fashioned greetings like “Dear sir/madam ” unless applying to very formal companies.

How to find the contact’s name?

Addressing the recruitment contact by name is an excellent way to start building a strong relationship. If it is not listed in the job advert, try these methods to find it.

• Check out the company website and look at their  About page. If you see a hiring manager, HR person or internal recruiter, use their name. You could also try to figure out who would be your manager in the role and use their name.
• Head to LinkedIn , search for the company and scan through the list of employees. Most professionals are on LinkedIn these days, so this is a good bet.

Identify the role you are applying for

Once you’ve opened up the cover letter with a warm greeting to start building a relationship, it is time to identify which role you want to apply for.

Recruiters are often managing multiple vacancies, so you need to ensure you apply to the correct one.

Be very specific and use a reference number if you can find one.

• I am interested in applying for the position of Support Worker with your company.
• I would like to apply for the role of Sales assistant (Ref: 406f57393)
• I would like to express my interest in the customer service vacancy within your retail department
• I saw your advert for a junior project manager on Reed and would like to apply for the role.

See also: CV examples – how to write a CV – CV profiles

Highlight your suitability

The bulk of your cover letter should be focused around highlighting your suitability for the job you are applying to.

Doing this will show the recruiter that you are suitable candidate and encourage them to open your CV.

The best way to do this, is by studying the job advert you are applying to, and find out what the most important skills and knowledge are.

Once you know the most important requirements, you then need to highlight your matching skills to the recruiter. In a few sentences, tell them exactly why you are a good fit for the job and what you can offer the company.

Keep it short and sharp

It is best to keep your cover letter brief if you want to ensure you hold the attention of busy recruiters and hiring managers. A lengthy cover letter will probably not get read in full, so keep yours to around 3-6 sentences and save the real detail for your CV.

Remember the purpose of your cover letter is to quickly get recruiters to notice you and encourage them to open your CV, so it only needs to include the highlights of your experience.

Sign off professionally

To round of your CV, you should sign off with a professional signature.

This will give your cover letter a slick appearance and also give the recruiter all of the necessary contact information they need to get in touch with you.

The information to add should include:

• A friendly sign off – e.g. “Kindest regards”
• Your full name
• Phone number (one you can answer quickly)
• Email address
• Profession title
• Professional social network –  e.g. LinkedIn

Here is an example signature;

Warm regards,

Jill North IT Project Manager 078837437373 [email protected] LinkedIn

Quick tip: To save yourself from having to write your signature every time you send a job application, you can save it within your email drafts, or on a separate documents that you could copy in.

What to include in your Support Worker cover letter

So, what type of information should you write about in your Support Worker cover letter?

The specifics will obviously depend on your profession and the jobs you are applying to, but these are the key areas you should be covering.

• Your industry experience – Tell recruiters the types of companies you have been working for and the roles you have held in the past.
• Your qualifications – Highlight your most important relevant qualifications to show employers you are qualified to do the roles you are applying for.
• The impact you have made – Demonstrate the positive impact you have made for employers in previous jobs. Have you saved money? Improved processes? Made customers happy?
• Your reasons for moving – Employers will want to know why you are leaving your current/previous role, so provide them with a brief explanation here.
• Your availability – When will you be able to start a new job ? Check your current contract to find out your notice period if you are in a position already.

Support Worker cover letter templates

Copy and paste these Support Worker cover letter templates to get a head start on your own.

I hope you’re well.

I am thrilled to apply for the Support Worker position at Cedar Residential Home. As a recent school leaver with a passion for supporting the elderly, I am eager to contribute my skills and dedication to providing exceptional care and companionship to residents in assisted living.

During my regular volunteer work at the local community centre, I work with groups of up to 20 elderly citizens, engaging them in art and music activities and fostering a warm and supportive environment. I introduced a community buddy up scheme with teenagers from the town which lead to a 20% increase in participant satisfaction surveys. Additionally, in my work experience placement at St Thomas’ Residential Home, I demonstrated my commitment to personalised care by assisting 15 seniors with dressing and grooming each day.

I am confident that my compassionate nature and excellent communication skills make me an ideal fit for this role, and I am available for an interview at your convenience.

Kind regards,

Jack Simpson

Hi Fabio De Sigley,

I am writing to express my keen interest in the Support Worker position at Creighton Children’s Home. With a decade of hands-on experience supported by a Level 4 Diploma in Social Work, I am confident in my ability to make a positive impact on the lives of the children under your care.

As a qualified Support Worker with a compassionate approach, I have worked with children between the ages of 3 and 19 within children’s homes and outpatient support. My expertise in implementing personalised care plans has led to a significant improvement in the well-being of numerous children.

For instance, in my previous role at Park Children’s Home, I facilitated therapeutic art activities that resulted in a 25% enhancement in social interactions among children. I have also held roles as a Mentor and Child Advocate, enabling me to advocate for the needs and rights of vulnerable children effectively. During my role at Mind Charity, I witnessed a remarkable 38% overall development improvement in the children I supported.

Thank you for your consideration and I am available for an interview at your convenience.

Carey Jackson

Hi Barbara,

I am eager to apply for the Lead Support Worker position at Priory House, catering to adults with physical disabilities.

As a Senior Support Worker with Companion UK, I have successfully motivated and supervised teams of up to 15 members of staff, delivered exceptional care, 1-2-1 personal support, and engaged clients with developmental and physical disabilities in numerous activities. By encouraging choice and participation, I have witnessed a significant enhancement in residents’ well-being, with a commendable 30% increase in overall satisfaction in the four years I have worked there. With a level of professional development and registration, including Level 4 NVQ in People Management, my experience in a diverse care setting enables me to empower individuals to reach their full potential. I am committed to flexibility and am willing to participate in the on-call rota, ensuring uninterrupted care for residents. With a full, clean driving license, I can readily travel, and cover work allocated on the roster.

I am eager to discuss how my qualifications and experience align with Priory House’s values. I am available for an interview at your earliest convenience.

Writing an impressive cover letter is a crucial step in landing a Support Worker job, so taking the time to perfect it is well worth while.

By following the tips and examples above you will be able to create an eye-catching cover letter that will wow recruiters and ensure your CV gets read – leading to more job interviews for you.

Good luck with your job search!

5+ Support Worker Cover Letter Examples & Templates

Home » Cover Letter Examples » 5+ Support Worker Cover Letter Examples & Templates

Create the simple Support Worker cover letter  with our top examples and expert guidance. Use our sample customizable templates to craft a cover letter that’ll impress recruiters and get you that interview today. Start now and make your dream job come true!

Support Workers play a crucial role in providing assistance and care to individuals with various needs. Crafting a compelling support worker cover letter can showcase your empathy, skills, and dedication to making a positive impact. This guide offers five unique cover letter examples, templates, and expert tips to help you create a support worker cover letter that resonates with hiring managers.

What Makes a Great Support Worker Cover Letter?

A support worker cover letter should highlight your ability to provide emotional, physical, and practical support to those in need. Here’s what you need to consider:

Key Responsibilities

• Personal Care: Assisting with daily living activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating.
• Emotional Support: Providing companionship and encouragement.
• Healthcare Assistance: Administering medication and monitoring health conditions.
• Household Tasks: Helping with chores, meal preparation, and other domestic duties.

Essential Skills

• Empathy: Ability to understand and share the feelings of others.
• Communication Skills: Clear and compassionate communication with clients and their families.
• Problem-Solving: Ability to adapt to various situations and find solutions.
• Patience: Providing care and support with understanding and tolerance.

For more on skills, you can explore various Resume Skills that can enhance your application.

Tailoring Your Cover Letter

• Understand the Job Description: Align your skills and experience with the specific requirements of the role.
• Use Relevant Keywords: Incorporate industry-specific terms such as “personal care,” “emotional support,” or “healthcare assistance.”
• Highlight Achievements: Showcase your successes with quantifiable achievements, such as “improved client’s mobility by 25%” or “increased engagement in community activities.”

Support Worker Cover Letter Examples

1. entry-level support worker cover letter, 2. experienced support worker cover letter, 3. child support worker cover letter, 4. elderly support worker cover letter, 5. mental health support worker cover letter, support worker cover letter templates & writing tips.

Creating a Support Worker cover letter can be a complex task. Whether you’re an entry-level applicant or an experienced professional, having the right template and writing tips can make the process smoother. Here’s what you need to know:

• Entry-Level Support Worker Cover Letter Template: Ideal for those starting their career. Focuses on relevant education, empathy, and enthusiasm for the role.
• Experienced Support Worker Cover Letter Template: Tailored for those with years of experience. Highlights achievements, diverse client experience, and personalized care.
• Child Support Worker Cover Letter Template: Perfect for those working with children. Emphasizes understanding of child development, creativity, and collaboration with families.
• Elderly Support Worker Cover Letter Template: Designed for elderly care. Showcases empathy, respect for independence, and engagement in social activities.
• Mental Health Support Worker Cover Letter Template: Suitable for mental health settings. Highlights trust-building, crisis intervention, and collaboration with mental health professionals.

For more templates, check out the Resume Maker tool, where you can find customizable templates to fit your needs.

Writing Tips

• Use Action Verbs: Words like “assisted,” “provided,” “connected,” and “improved” add impact. They convey a sense of care and responsibility.
• Be Concise: Keep your cover letter to one page. Focus on the most relevant details and avoid unnecessary filler.
• Personalize: Address the hiring manager by name if possible. Research the organization to find the appropriate contact.
• Proofread: Ensure there are no grammatical or spelling errors. Consider having a friend or colleague review your cover letter for a fresh perspective.
• Show Empathy: Convey your understanding and compassion for the individuals you support. Mention specific aspects of the role that resonate with you.
• Use Real Examples: Provide tangible examples to back up your claims. Use quantifiable data to demonstrate your achievements.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Avoiding common mistakes can set your cover letter apart. Here’s what to watch out for:

• Generic Language: Tailor your cover letter to the specific role. Avoid using a one-size-fits-all approach that doesn’t address the unique needs of the position.
• Overly Formal Tone: Use a conversational style, as if you’re speaking to a colleague. While maintaining professionalism, let your personality shine through.
• Lack of Evidence: Provide examples to back up your claims. Use specific instances from your experience to demonstrate your qualifications.
• Ignoring the Job Description: Align your cover letter with the job requirements. Show how your skills and experience directly relate to the needs of the position.

Crafting the perfect Support Worker cover letter is an essential step in landing your dream job. By following these examples, templates, and writing tips, you’ll be well on your way to impressing potential employers.

For additional help with your resume, explore the AI Resume Builder , Resume Design , Resume Samples , Resume Examples , Resume Help , Resume Synonyms , Career Advice , Interview Questions , and Job Responsibilities sections.

Happy job hunting!

Career Expert Tips:

• If you're stepping into the professional world, understanding the basics is crucial. Learn What is a cover letter and its role in the job application process.
• How to start a cover letter can be a challenging task. Get a comprehensive guide on how to kickstart your cover letter and make a strong first impression.
• Looking for inspiration to draft your own cover letter? Browse through these Cover letter examples to find a style that fits your profession.
• Why start from scratch? Use these Cover Letter Templates tailored for various professions to simplify your job application process.
• How long should a cover letter be : The length of a cover letter is vital in conveying your message concisely. Discover the optimal length to make sure your cover letter is not too short nor too long.
• Ensure that you know how to write a resume in a way that highlights your competencies.
• Check the expert curated popular good CV and resume examples

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Support Worker Cover Letter Examples & Tips

Table of Contents

A strong cover letter should always highlight your qualifications and expertise in the industry, which is crucial when applying for a support worker position. A strong cover letter can differentiate you from other applicants and have a significant influence. This comprehensive guide provides helpful advice on how to write your support worker cover letter in the UK, together with support worker cover letter examples to help you craft an application that will stand out.

Best Way to Write a Support Worker Cover Letter (with cover letter template)

When crafting a good support worker cover letter to impress the recruiter, it is essential to follow a structured approach, as HR likely receives many application letters. Here is a step-by-step guide to help you create a strong cover letter for the position of support worker position:

• Write a cover letter with a greeting: Start your letter by addressing the hiring managers by name, if possible, or use a general greeting such as “Dear Hiring Manager.”
• Introduce yourself and explain why you’re fit for the role: In the cover letter, the introduction should clearly state your interest in the support worker position and highlight your relevant skills and experience, even if you have no prior experience as a support worker.
• Provide examples of your support worker skills: Use good examples from your previous work experiences to demonstrate your ability to provide patient care and support. Include any relevant experience, certifications, or training you have received.
• Close your cover letter with a firm ending: Express your enthusiasm for the role and end with a polite thank-you. Invite the employer to read your cover letter, review your support worker’s CV for more details about your qualifications, and consider your application.

Here’s a template of cover letter for support worker for review:

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Few Support Worker Cover Letter UK Examples

Below are cover letter example support worker:

Example 1 – Care worker cover letter no experience

Example 2 – Cover letter for family support worker examples

Example 3 – Mental health support worker cover letter examples

Example 4 – Peer support worker cover letter examples

Example 5 – Personal support worker cover letter example

Example 6 – Sales support job cover letter example

Example 7 – Support worker cover letter  with experience

Example 8 – Cover letter example for disability support worker

Key Elements to Include in Your Support Worker Cover Letter 

• Your industry experience – You should inform recruiters about the types of companies you have worked for previously and the previous work experience you have held in the past.
• Your qualifications – Emphasise your most important and relevant qualifications to demonstrate to your potential employers that you are qualified for the role of support worker that you are applying for.
• The impact you have made – Highlight the positive impact you have made previously working as a support worker. Have you saved money? Improved processes? Made customers happy? Demonstrate these achievements to impress your potential employers.
• Your reasons for leaving – Employers will want to know why you are looking for a change in your current/previous role, so provide them with an explanation.
• Your probable joining day – When will you be able to join a new job? Check your current call letter to find out your notice period if you are already in a position.

Tips for Writing an Impactful Support Worker Cover Letter

• Emphasise your skills and experience as a support worker throughout your cover letter. Provide specific examples of how you have assisted individuals needing support and care, showcasing your ability to make a positive impact in their lives.
• Demonstrate your passion for personal support and care by sharing stories or anecdotes that highlight your commitment to helping others. Showing empathy and understanding in your cover letter can demonstrate your suitability for the role.
• Convey your interest in the specific support worker position by aligning your experiences and qualifications with the requirements outlined in the job description. Express why you believe you are the right person for the role and how your contributions can benefit the organisation.

Need Support Worker Cover Letter? icover.org.uk can help

Do’s and don’ts for building a personal support worker cover letter, address the recruiter directly., explain what attracted you to the company in brief, personalise your cover letter by highlighting relevant skills and experience., end with a clear call to action., proofread your cover letter multiple times..

DONT’S

The letter should be over one page long.

Use generic greetings., depends on spell-checkers or automatic grammatical checks., avoid writing a fan letter., write a generic personal support worker cover letter..

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Support Worker Cover Letter Examples (Template & 20+ Tips)

Create a standout support worker cover letter with our online platform. browse professional templates for all levels and specialties. land your dream role today.

Are you looking to pursue a career as a Support Worker? A well-crafted cover letter is an essential part of the job application process. It provides an opportunity to highlight your qualifications and experience, while expressing your passion for helping others. In this comprehensive guide, we will provide you with expert tips and advice on how to create a compelling Support Worker cover letter that will help you stand out to potential employers.

We will cover:

• How to write a cover letter, no matter your industry or job title.
• What to put on a cover letter to stand out.
• The top skills employers from every industry want to see.
• How to build a cover letter fast with our professional Cover Letter Builder .
• Why you should use a cover letter template

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Support Worker Cover Letter Sample

Dear Hiring Manager,

I am writing to express my strong interest in the Support Worker position at your organization. With a solid background in providing compassionate care and support to individuals in need, I am confident in my ability to make a significant impact on the lives of those I work with.

Over the past five years, I have gained extensive experience in supporting individuals with various needs, including those with physical and mental disabilities, elderly individuals, and individuals facing challenges such as homelessness and addiction. In my previous role, I was responsible for assisting clients with their daily activities, providing emotional support, and ensuring their overall well-being. I have also received training in conflict resolution, crisis intervention, and medication management, which has equipped me with the necessary skills to handle challenging situations with professionalism and empathy.

I am highly dedicated to promoting the independence and dignity of the individuals I work with. My approach is centered around building trusting relationships, actively listening to the needs of my clients, and providing personalized support that is tailored to their unique circumstances. I am committed to advocating for the rights of those in my care and empowering them to live their lives to the fullest extent possible.

I am confident that my strong communication skills, empathy, and commitment to excellence make me a strong fit for this role. I am passionate about making a positive difference in the lives of others and am eager to bring my expertise to your organization. I am also open to further training and development opportunities to enhance my skills and knowledge in the field of support work.

Thank you for considering my application. I am excited about the opportunity to contribute to your team and make a meaningful impact on the lives of those in need. I look forward to the possibility of discussing my application in further detail and am available at your earliest convenience for an interview.

Sincerely, [Your Name]

Why Do you Need a Support Worker Cover Letter?

• A support worker cover letter is essential because it gives you the opportunity to introduce yourself to the potential employer and explain why you are the best fit for the role.
• It allows you to highlight your relevant skills, experience, and qualifications that make you a suitable candidate for the position.
• A well-written cover letter can help you stand out from other applicants and make a strong first impression on the hiring manager.
• It provides you with the chance to demonstrate your passion for helping and supporting others, which is a crucial aspect of being a support worker.
• A cover letter also allows you to address any gaps in your resume or explain career changes in a professional manner.
• Overall, a support worker cover letter is a valuable tool that can increase your chances of securing an interview and ultimately landing the job.

A Few Important Rules To Keep In Mind

• Address the recipient by name if possible, if not, use "To Whom It May Concern"
• Use a professional and formal tone throughout the letter
• Highlight your relevant skills and experience in the field of support work
• Explain why you are enthusiastic about the position and the organization
• Detail your previous experience in a similar role and any achievements in supporting individuals
• Customize the cover letter for each application and avoid using a generic template
• Keep the cover letter concise and to the point, with a clear introduction, body, and conclusion
• Double-check for any spelling or grammatical errors before submitting the cover letter
• End the letter with a professional closing and a mention of your availability for an interview

What's The Best Structure For Support Worker Cover Letters?

After creating an impressive Support Worker resume , the next step is crafting a compelling cover letter to accompany your job applications. It's essential to remember that your cover letter should maintain a formal tone and follow a recommended structure. But what exactly does this structure entail, and what key elements should be included in a Support Worker cover letter? Let's explore the guidelines and components that will make your cover letter stand out.

Key Components For Support Worker Cover Letters:

• Your contact information, including the date of writing
• The recipient's details, such as the company's name and the name of the addressee
• A professional greeting or salutation, like "Dear Mr. Levi,"
• An attention-grabbing opening statement to captivate the reader's interest
• A concise paragraph explaining why you are an excellent fit for the role
• Another paragraph highlighting why the position aligns with your career goals and aspirations
• A closing statement that reinforces your enthusiasm and suitability for the role
• A complimentary closing, such as "Regards" or "Sincerely," followed by your name
• An optional postscript (P.S.) to add a brief, impactful note or mention any additional relevant information.

Cover Letter Header

A header in a cover letter should typically include the following information:

• Your Full Name: Begin with your first and last name, written in a clear and legible format.
• Contact Information: Include your phone number, email address, and optionally, your mailing address. Providing multiple methods of contact ensures that the hiring manager can reach you easily.
• Date: Add the date on which you are writing the cover letter. This helps establish the timeline of your application.

It's important to place the header at the top of the cover letter, aligning it to the left or center of the page. This ensures that the reader can quickly identify your contact details and know when the cover letter was written.

Cover Letter Greeting / Salutation

A greeting in a cover letter should contain the following elements:

• Personalized Salutation: Address the hiring manager or the specific recipient of the cover letter by their name. If the name is not mentioned in the job posting or you are unsure about the recipient's name, it's acceptable to use a general salutation such as "Dear Hiring Manager" or "Dear [Company Name] Recruiting Team."
• Professional Tone: Maintain a formal and respectful tone throughout the greeting. Avoid using overly casual language or informal expressions.
• Correct Spelling and Title: Double-check the spelling of the recipient's name and ensure that you use the appropriate title (e.g., Mr., Ms., Dr., or Professor) if applicable. This shows attention to detail and professionalism.

For example, a suitable greeting could be "Dear Ms. Johnson," or "Dear Hiring Manager," depending on the information available. It's important to tailor the greeting to the specific recipient to create a personalized and professional tone for your cover letter.

Cover Letter Introduction

An introduction for a cover letter should capture the reader's attention and provide a brief overview of your background and interest in the position. Here's how an effective introduction should look:

• Opening Statement: Start with a strong opening sentence that immediately grabs the reader's attention. Consider mentioning your enthusiasm for the job opportunity or any specific aspect of the company or organization that sparked your interest.
• Brief Introduction: Provide a concise introduction of yourself and mention the specific position you are applying for. Include any relevant background information, such as your current role, educational background, or notable achievements that are directly related to the position.
• Connection to the Company: Demonstrate your knowledge of the company or organization and establish a connection between your skills and experiences with their mission, values, or industry. Showcasing your understanding and alignment with their goals helps to emphasize your fit for the role.
• Engaging Hook: Consider including a compelling sentence or two that highlights your unique selling points or key qualifications that make you stand out from other candidates. This can be a specific accomplishment, a relevant skill, or an experience that demonstrates your value as a potential employee.
• Transition to the Body: Conclude the introduction by smoothly transitioning to the main body of the cover letter, where you will provide more detailed information about your qualifications, experiences, and how they align with the requirements of the position.

By following these guidelines, your cover letter introduction will make a strong first impression and set the stage for the rest of your application.

Cover Letter Body

I am writing to express my interest in the Support Worker position at your organization. With a strong background in providing care and support to individuals in need, I am confident in my ability to make a positive impact on the lives of those I work with. My experience and skills align with the qualifications you are seeking for this role.

• Compassion and empathy: I have a deep understanding of the challenges that individuals face and am able to provide emotional support and encouragement.
• Effective communication: I am skilled at listening to the needs of others, and am able to communicate clearly and effectively with clients, their families, and other members of the care team.
• Problem-solving: I am able to think quickly and make informed decisions in high-pressure situations, ensuring the safety and well-being of those under my care.
• Adaptability: I am able to handle a variety of tasks and responsibilities, and can quickly adapt to changes in schedules or client needs.
• Teamwork: I am able to work effectively with others, collaborating with fellow support workers, healthcare professionals, and other stakeholders to provide the best possible care.

I am passionate about making a difference in the lives of others and am committed to providing exceptional care and support to those in need. I am excited about the opportunity to bring my skills and experience to your organization and would welcome the chance to discuss how my background, skills, and qualifications make me a perfect fit for this position.

Thank you for considering my application. I look forward to the possibility of contributing to your team and making a valuable impact on the lives of your clients.

Your Contact Information

Complimentary Close

The conclusion and signature of a cover letter provide a final opportunity to leave a positive impression and invite further action. Here's how the conclusion and signature of a cover letter should look:

• Summary of Interest: In the conclusion paragraph, summarize your interest in the position and reiterate your enthusiasm for the opportunity to contribute to the organization or school. Emphasize the value you can bring to the role and briefly mention your key qualifications or unique selling points.
• Appreciation and Gratitude: Express appreciation for the reader's time and consideration in reviewing your application. Thank them for the opportunity to be considered for the position and acknowledge any additional materials or documents you have included, such as references or a portfolio.
• Call to Action: Conclude the cover letter with a clear call to action. Indicate your availability for an interview or express your interest in discussing the opportunity further. Encourage the reader to contact you to schedule a meeting or provide any additional information they may require.
• Complimentary Closing: Choose a professional and appropriate complimentary closing to end your cover letter, such as "Sincerely," "Best Regards," or "Thank you." Ensure the closing reflects the overall tone and formality of the letter.
• Signature: Below the complimentary closing, leave space for your handwritten signature. Sign your name in ink using a legible and professional style. If you are submitting a digital or typed cover letter, you can simply type your full name.
• Typed Name: Beneath your signature, type your full name in a clear and readable font. This allows for easy identification and ensures clarity in case the handwritten signature is not clear.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Support Worker Cover Letter

When crafting a cover letter, it's essential to present yourself in the best possible light to potential employers. However, there are common mistakes that can hinder your chances of making a strong impression. By being aware of these pitfalls and avoiding them, you can ensure that your cover letter effectively highlights your qualifications and stands out from the competition. In this article, we will explore some of the most common mistakes to avoid when writing a cover letter, providing you with valuable insights and practical tips to help you create a compelling and impactful introduction that captures the attention of hiring managers. Whether you're a seasoned professional or just starting your career journey, understanding these mistakes will greatly enhance your chances of success in the job application process. So, let's dive in and discover how to steer clear of these common missteps and create a standout cover letter that gets you noticed by potential employers.

• Avoid using a generic cover letter that does not specifically address the job requirements or the company you are applying to.
• Avoid copying and pasting information from your resume into your cover letter. Your cover letter should provide additional information and context, not simply reiterate what is already in your resume.
• Avoid using overly formal or overly casual language. Your cover letter should strike a professional yet personable tone.
• Avoid focusing solely on your own needs and desires. Instead, highlight what you can bring to the role and how you can contribute to the organization's success.
• Avoid spelling and grammar mistakes. Take the time to proofread your cover letter carefully before submitting it.
• Avoid making the cover letter too long or too short. Aim for a concise one-page cover letter that effectively communicates your qualifications and interest in the position.
• Avoid exaggerating or lying about your qualifications and experience. Be honest and transparent in your cover letter.

Key Takeaways For a Support Worker Cover Letter

• Demonstrated ability to provide compassionate and empathetic support to individuals in need
• Proven track record of building strong and trusting relationships with clients
• Ability to adapt to different situations and handle challenging behaviors with patience and understanding
• Strong communication and active listening skills to effectively address the needs of clients
• Experience in creating and implementing personalized care plans to promote independence and well-being

Cover letter examples

Support Worker

In this example, Samantha selected a matching cover letter template that showcases her proven track record as a Support Worker in the UK. This cover letter follows a modern style and clean design, matching her CV.

"Throughout my career, I have consistently demonstrated a deep dedication to providing comprehensive support to children, young adults, and adults. My hands-on experience encompasses delivering clinical, physical, and emotional assistance to individuals, ensuring their comfort and fostering a positive environment for their growth and development."

Table of contents

How to Write a Support Worker Cover Letter

Landing a support worker position requires more than just a good CV ; it demands a well-crafted cover letter that effectively communicates your passion, qualifications, and dedication to making a positive impact on others' lives. As a support worker, empathy and interpersonal skills are paramount; your cover letter serves as the initial gateway to showcase your suitability for the role. 

This article offers insights, tips, and practical advice on how to write a cover letter for a support worker role. Let's delve into the essential elements that will set your cover letter apart and increase your chances of landing more interviews!

Customise this support worker cover letter example

Support worker cover letter example.

In this example, Samantha selected a matching cover letter template that showcases her proven track record as a support worker in the UK. This cover letter follows a modern style and clean design, matching her Support Worker CV .

For a similar example, refer to our care assistant cover letter.

What to include in a support worker cover letter?

A good cover letter should be concise, impactful, and tailored to the specific role you're applying for, whether it is a mental health support worker, disability support worker, general care assistant, or even an internship . Your cover letter should showcase key skills and achievements relevant to the job. For example, generic soft skills for a support worker include but are not limited to empathy, compassion, patience, and listening skills.

Research the company culture before crafting your cover letter and add the skills accordingly, giving yourself an advantage over other candidates.

The structure of a good support worker cover letter is straightforward. Ensure you incorporate the following must-have sections below:

Learn more about different sections in our writing guide on how to structure your cover letter .

How to start a cover letter for a support worker job

Begin your cover letter with a captivating introduction, conveying your excitement for the position and showcasing your qualifications. Ultimately, create a persuasive argument for your ideal fit that grabs the recruiter's attention, enticing them to delve deeper into your application.

Dear Hiring Manager, I am writing to express my interest in the Support Worker position at Compassionate Care. As a dedicated professional with over 10 years of experience in providing care and support, coupled with my commitment to fostering a positive environment, I am confident in my ability to contribute effectively to your team.

For more information, refer to how to start a cover letter.

How to write the body of a support worker cover letter 

In the main body of your cover letter, delve into the specifics of your qualifications and experiences, demonstrating how they align with the employer's requirements. Once you have mentioned relevant skills, go even further with this by illustrating your skills with concrete examples. Whether you have 10 years of experience or no experience, it’s important to highlight relevant achievements, be it big or small, articulating how your unique expertise can contribute to the support team. 

Organise this section cohesively for a smooth narrative, addressing job requirements while emphasising your career goals and potential impact on the organisation.

Through my professional journey, I've recognised the importance of clear communication and adaptability, enabling me to navigate complex challenges with precision and flexibility. This collaborative approach has not only resulted in successful outcomes but has also cultivated positive relationships within the teams I've been a part of. Over the course of my career, I have refined my skills in support work through hands-on experiences spanning 5+ years. An outstanding achievement involves leading a team in designing and implementing a client-centric support system for a prominent healthcare facility. This initiative significantly improved patient satisfaction scores by 20% and streamlined support processes, contributing to overall operational efficiency.

How to end a support worker cover letter 

Concluding your cover letter with a compelling and positive closure is essential to making a memorable impact. A similar theme throughout is to keep it clear and concise, where you can express gratitude for the reader's time and consideration. Furthermore, it should convey your eagerness to engage in a more detailed discussion about how your skills align with the organisation's mission during an interview. 

Wrap up proactively by inviting further communication and reinforcing your confidence in making a meaningful contribution to the support team.

I am enthusiastic about the prospect of applying my support worker skills and dedication to enhance the impact of Better Care Support Services. I welcome the opportunity to discuss in depth how my experiences align with the goals of your support team. Enclosed, you will find my CV for your convenience, and I am available for an interview at your earliest convenience. Thank you for considering my application, and I look forward to the possibility of contributing to your team's success. Sincerely, Katie Davies

How to write a cover letter for a support worker with no experience

To write a cover letter for someone who is just starting out their career or even changing careers , emphasise your relevant academic background, courses , skills, or any applicable hands-on work experiences that underscore your potential.

Start with a concise introduction expressing your keen interest in the support worker role and your eagerness to apply theoretical knowledge in a practical context. 

Illustrate how your academic accomplishments and extracurricular involvements have endowed you with the essential skills for the position, laying the groundwork for a compelling discussion in the body of your cover letter.

I am reaching out to express my enthusiasm for the support worker position at Harmony Care Services. Despite lacking direct experience in the field, I am currently pursuing a Bachelor's degree in Social Work at the University of London, eager to translate my academic insights into meaningful support for individuals in need. My coursework, particularly in counselling methodologies, human development, and community outreach, has equipped me with a solid foundation. I am genuinely excited about the opportunity to contribute my passion for assisting others to the impactful work at Harmony Care Services. I am confident that my academic background and dedication make me a promising candidate for this support worker role.

Key takeaways 

Crafting a compelling support worker cover letter is essential for making a distinctive impression in your job applications. By incorporating a personalised introduction, highlighting your distinctive strengths, and expressing genuine interest, it ensures that you capture the attention of hiring managers in a competitive job market.

Next steps?  

Explore a range of customised cover letter templates and CV examples designed to suit your career objectives. If you require support, our CV Writing Service is available to streamline the process for your convenience.

What is a good supporting statement for a support worker?

A good supporting statement for a support worker should highlight your compassion, empathy, and commitment to helping others. It should also emphasise relevant skills such as effective communication, teamwork, and problem-solving.

How do I write an application letter for support work?

Knowing how to write an application letter is crucial for your job application. Start by introducing yourself and expressing your interest in the position. Detail your relevant skills, experiences, and qualifications. Discuss your passion for supporting others and explain why you are a suitable candidate. Close the letter by expressing enthusiasm for an interview.

How do you write a cover letter for a disability support worker?

Like any support worker's cover letter, tailor it with relevant experience, skills, and qualifications. For a disability support worker, key skills include communication, reliability, emotional intelligence, patience, and understanding of different needs.

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Support Worker cover letter template

Download a cover letter, expert tips to help you write your cover letter.

• How to write a great cover letter
• Cover letters: The good and the bad
• How to tailor your cover letter to the job

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• Support Worker

Support Worker cover letter example

Support workers are highly valued for so many reasons. They keep our elderly company and care for their every need. They show compassion and understanding to those with disabilities. They work in hospitals, care homes and care facilities to help those who need it. They are modern day heroes and should not have to explain anything to anyone.

If that is you, thank you from us at Resume.io. We salute you.

Having said what a magnificent job you do, the fact remains that you do still need to outline your accomplishments and approach to your work when you need to find a new job. You give your all at work, but in a job search you are up against a whole load of other heroes. That is when the competition gets tough, but you have come to the right place. We will share some insights to get your care worker cover letter right to the top of the pile.

The cover letter differs somewhat from a CV. Your CV should be a factual record of your accomplishments, while the cover letter allows you to show just a little more personality and passion. Just what you want to do when you spend your careers helping people who aren’t in a position to help themselves. In this writing guide, we cover:

• How to write a support worker cover letter (plus a cover letter sample)
• Formatting the letter to make the most of your career story
• Side-stepping mistakes that may harm your application.

Looking for some more inspiration? Take a look at our wide library of cover letter example s now. We have created field-tested examples for a broad range of professions. 

Best format for a support worker cover letter

Support workers will have so much to say about what they do for others and why they love their work. Fitting all this into one page (no more) of a cover letter is no easy task. It is important to be selective in your stories and stick to a tried-and-tested format . 

The hiring manager will have the opportunity to chat with you in more detail during an interview, so start some conversations. You need to intrigue them so that they want to find out more.

The cover letter format should contain the following elements:

• The cover letter header
• The greeting / salutation
• The cover letter intro
• The middle paragraphs (body of the letter)
• The ending paragraph of your cover letter (conclusion and call-to-action)

Our comprehensive cover letter guide shares lots of detailed advice about every aspect of writing a cover letter. If you are unsure about what font to use, give it a read. If you are wondering about the impact of design on a hiring manager, it will have some answers. It will suggest all sorts of advice on cover letter etiquette. Make the most of your research.

This support worker cover letter sample may offer some inspiration:

Dear Ms Merryweather,

I recently read your advertisement for the role of support worker. I am an experienced support worker in mental health and with children in a variety of care settings and take immense pride in my relationships with families.

My first support worker role was in an elderly care home where I principally supported patients with poor mental health. When the care home closed, my manager personally recommended me for an opening at a private medical practice where she had started working. I have been a support worker at the practice, Sloane Medical Centre, for the last five years.

I began my time at Sloane working with people of all ages and management soon recognised my talent for supporting families of vulnerable patients. As such, for the last three years, I have been in a role which exclusively deals with children and young people who are suffering with mental health problems.

I have received praise from management and families alike for my excellent bedside manner. I excel in building trust with family members of all ages as well as forming a relationship with young mental health patients. Following my assignment to child patients only, 50% of eligible children’s parents opted to use the hospital’s outpatient services after discharge. This was a significant increase from beforehand.

In the last two years, I have participated in a multidisciplinary focus group helping the centre’s paediatric specialists to develop a more child-friendly workflow for everyday operations such as taking blood samples. I, therefore, have a clear understanding of how my role plays into the bigger picture of patient care from a humanistic and practical perspective.

I hope you will agree that my previous experience is a great match with the vacancy at Little Angels. I would love to tell you more about my profile in an interview.

Giles Bateman

Cover letter header

Your support worker cover letter header should be functional and professional. You do not work in marketing or communications, so keep it simple. Include your full name, email, and mobile phone. The hiring manager might want to get in touch with you there and then.

You do not have to include your full home address (town and country will be fine) as there may be data protection issues. It is also not necessary to include the inside address of the employer (unless you want to be incredibly formal). You are not sending the cover letter by post, after all. Make the most of the space – leave it for your support worker career story.

Some other healthcare cover letter examples may be worth a read:

• Care assistant cover letter example
• Nurse cover letter sample
• Dental nurse cover letter example
• Team leader cover letter sample
• Customer service cover letter sample

Cover letter greeting 

The greeting for a support worker cover letter is a simple matter. Keep it professional with a “Dear Surname” and you won’t go far wrong. It shouldn’t be too tricky to find the name of the hiring manager in order to personalise it. 

You should be able to find the name of the contact person in the job description, but if not then you can maybe phone the employer to find out. Writing “To whom it may concern” is a rather impersonal option for such a people-oriented role, so try to avoid this overly formal option if at all possible.

Cover letter introduction

The introduction of the support worker cover letter should get into the stories about what you do best – looking after your patients and clients. Try to offer some context to whatever you share, if possible, and ensure that it is relevant to the role in question. 

There will have been many proud moments in your career, but which of them will impress this particular hiring manager? You need to put yourself in their shoes.Don’t fall into the trap of offering too many examples without the human level of detail. You can’t tell every story, so dive a little deeper into your personal contribution where possible. 

There are bound to be many heart-warming stories. A support worker cover letter without them would not be worthy of an interview, that’s for sure. Tug at those heart strings.

Cover letter middle part (body)

The middle paragraphs of support worker cover letters should seek to cover the main points in the job description, no matter how unimaginative it might be. The hiring manager will likely ask their questions alongside what has been shared in the job description, so play by their rules. 

Don’t fret, however, you can still embellish your accomplishments with personal details, so talk about the difference that you made in various situations rather than just what you did.

You need to make sure that your support worker cover letter sets you apart from your competition. Most of them will write formal descriptions of their achievements. Don’t be afraid of injecting the cover letter with passion – what do you love about the role and what keeps you going on those long shifts without a break? This is the sort of information that will help a hiring manager to warm to you.

How to close a support worker cover letter (conclusion and sign-off)

The conclusion of the support worker cover letter should finish with one last heroic story. Then let the hiring manager know that it is their turn. You will be in demand over the next weeks, so share a call-to-action to compel them to invite you to an interview.

Saying that you are keen to find out more at a potential interview is a good way of demonstrating your passion and also hinting that they need to make a decision. If they like you, there is no reason why they shouldn’t invite you to an interview in the near future. You will have started a few stories that they would like to hear more about, so don’t be shy.

Support worker cover letter with no experience 

Are you new to the support worker role? Whether this is your first job or you’re a career changer, you can still write a compelling cover letter. Here are some tips: 

• Show some empathy. You’re applying for a caring profession. Let the hiring manager know you’re the right person for the job by showcasing your empathy. Talk about why you want to work with vulnerable people and what the career path means to you.
• Talk about voluntary work. While you may not have experience in this specific role, you can reflect on any voluntary work you have completed.
• Emphasise your skill-set. What skills are you bringing to the table? Are you a pro when it comes to health and safety? Do you have a natural knack for charming people? Whatever your USP (or your unique selling point) is, let the hiring manager know in your cover letter.

Avoiding basic mistakes in a support worker application letter

• Attention to detail is sometimes a matter of life or death as a support worker, so make sure that you use an online grammar checker such as Grammarly.
• Pack the cover letter with examples of your accomplishments, but don’t forget the personality. Otherwise, it will just be a copy of your CV – you are far too lovely not to include a healthy dose of what makes you so amazing at work.
• Put the patients at the heart of the cover letter – you do what you do because of them. Don’t make it all about yourself.

Key takeaways

• Write a support worker cover letter that will convey your passion for the role.
• Look at the job description and make sure you have covered the main points.
• Tell the hiring manager why you want the role. Your career motivation will help you to get through those tough days and nights. They need to understand your “why.”
• Use our field-tested cover letter templates to perfect your application!

Free professionally designed templates

FactChecking the Biden-Trump Debate

In the first debate clash of the 2024 campaign, the two candidates unleashed a flurry of false and misleading statements.

By Robert Farley , Eugene Kiely , D'Angelo Gore , Jessica McDonald , Lori Robertson , Catalina Jaramillo , Saranac Hale Spencer and Alan Jaffe

Posted on June 28, 2024

The much-anticipated first debate of 2024 between President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump featured a relentless barrage of false and misleading statements from the two candidates on immigration, the economy, abortion, taxes and more.

• Both candidates erred on Social Security, with Biden incorrectly saying that Trump “wants to get rid” of the program, and Trump falsely alleging that Biden will “wipe out” Social Security due to the influx of people at the border.
• Trump misleadingly claimed that he was “the one that got the insulin down for the seniors,” not Biden. Costs were lowered for some under a limited project by the Trump administration. Biden signed a law capping costs for all seniors with Medicare drug coverage.
• Trump warned that Biden “wants to raise your taxes by four times,” but Biden has not proposed anything like that. Trump was also mostly wrong when he said Biden “wants the Trump tax cuts to expire.” Biden said he would extend them for anyone making under $400,000 a year.
• Biden repeated his misleading claim that billionaires pay an average federal tax rate of 8%. That White House calculation factors in earnings on unsold stock as income.
• Trump repeated his false claim that “everybody,” including all legal scholars, wanted to end Roe v. Wade’s constitutional right to abortion.
• Trump falsely claimed that “the only jobs” Biden “created are for illegal immigrants and bounced back jobs that bounced back from the COVID.” Total nonfarm employment is higher than it was before the pandemic, as is the employment level of native-born workers.
• Biden claimed that Trump oversaw the “largest deficit of any president,” while Trump countered that “we now have the largest deficit” under Biden. The largest budget deficit was under Trump in fiscal year 2020, but that was largely because of emergency spending due to COVID-19.
• Biden misleadingly said that “Black unemployment is the lowest level it has been in a long, long time.” The rate reached a record low in April 2023, and it was low under Trump, too, until the pandemic.
• Biden said Trump called U.S. veterans killed in World War I “suckers and losers,” which Trump called a “made up quote.” The Atlantic reported that, based on anonymous sources. A former Trump chief of staff later seemed to confirm Trump said it.
• Trump claimed that Biden “caused the inflation,” but economists say rising inflation was mostly due to disruptions to the economy caused by the pandemic.
• Trump grossly inflated the number of immigrants who have entered the country during the Biden administration — putting the number at 18 million to 20 million — and he said, without evidence, that many of them are from prisons and mental institutions.
• Trump claimed that “we had the safest border in history” in the “final months” of his presidency. But apprehensions of those trying to cross illegally in the last three full months of his presidency were about 50% higher than in the three months before he took office.
• Biden criticized Trump for presiding over a loss of jobs when he was president, but that loss occurred because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Trump falsely claimed that “some states” run by Democrats allow abortions “after birth.” If it happened, it would be homicide, and that’s illegal.
• Trump made the unsupported claim that the U.S. border with Mexico is “the most dangerous place in the world,” and suggested that it has opened the country to a violent crime wave. The data show a reduction in violent crime in the U.S.
• Trump overstated how much food prices have risen due to inflation. Prices are up by about 20%, not double or quadruple. 
• Trump boasted his administration “had the best environmental numbers ever.” Trump reversed nearly 100 environmental rules limiting pollution. Although greenhouse gas emissions did decline from 2019 to 2020, the EPA said that was due to the impacts of the pandemic on travel and the economy.   
• Biden said he joined the Paris Agreement because “if we reach the 1.5 degrees Celsius, and then … there’s no way back.” Limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees would reduce the damages and losses of global warming, but scientists agree that climate action is still possible after passing the threshold.
• Trump said immigrants crossing the border illegally were living in “luxury hotels.” New York City has provided hotel and motel rooms to migrant families, but there is no evidence that they are being placed in “luxury” hotels. 
• Trump falsely claimed that there was “no terrorism, at all” in the U.S. during his administration. There were several terrorist acts carried out by foreign-born individuals when he was president.
• While talking about international trade, Trump falsely claimed that the U.S. currently has “the largest deficit with China.” In 2023, the trade deficit in goods and services with China was the lowest it has been since 2009.
• Trump wrongly claimed that prior to the pandemic, he had created “the greatest economy in the history of our country.” That’s far from true using economists’ preferred measure — growth in gross domestic product.
• As he has many times before, Trump wrongly claimed, “I gave you the largest tax cut in history.” That’s not true either as a percentage of gross domestic product or in inflation-adjusted dollars.
• Trump contrasted his administration with Biden’s by misleadingly noting that when he left office, the U.S. was “energy independent.” The U.S. continues to export more energy than it imports.

The debate was hosted by CNN in Atlanta on June 27.

Social Security

Biden claimed that Trump “wants to get rid” of Social Security, even though the former president has consistently said he will not cut the program and has advised Republicans against doing so.

Earlier this year, Biden and his campaign based the claim on Trump saying in a  March 11 CNBC interview  that “there is a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements.” As  we’ve said , in context, instead of reducing benefits, Trump was talking about cutting waste and fraud in those programs — although there’s not enough of that to make the program solvent over the long term.

“I will never do anything that will jeopardize or hurt Social Security or Medicare,” Trump later said in a  March 13 Breitbart interview . “We’ll have to do it elsewhere. But we’re not going to do anything to hurt them.”

During the GOP presidential primary, Trump also  criticized  some of his Republican opponents for proposing to raise the retirement age for Social Security, which budget experts  have said  would reduce scheduled benefits for those affected.

Some critics of Trump have  argued  that he cannot be expected to keep his promise because of his past budget proposals. But,  as we’ve written , Trump did not propose cuts to Social Security retirement benefits.

Meanwhile, Trump claimed during the debate that Biden “is going to single handedly destroy Social Security” because of illegal immigration. “These millions and millions of people coming in, they’re trying to put them on Social Security. He will wipe out Social Security,” Trump said of Biden.

As  we  and  others  have explained before, immigrants who are not authorized to be in the U.S. aren’t eligible for Social Security. In fact, because many such individuals pay into Social Security via payroll taxes but cannot receive benefits, illegal immigrants bolster rather than drain the finances of the program.

In referring to what seniors pay for insulin, Trump misleadingly claimed, “I heard him say before ‘insulin.’ I’m the one that got the insulin down for the seniors. I took care of the seniors.” Insulin costs went down for some beneficiaries under a limited project under Trump; Biden signed a more expansive law affecting all seniors with Medicare drug coverage.

Under Trump, out-of-pocket costs were lowered to $35 for some Medicare Part D beneficiaries under a two-year pilot project in which some insurers could voluntarily reduce the cost for some insulin products. KFF, a nonpartisan health policy research organization,  explained  earlier this month that under this model, in effect from 2021 to 2023, “participating Medicare Part D prescription drug plans covered at least one of each dosage form and type of insulin product at no more than $35 per month,” and “less than half of all Part D plans chose to participate in each year.”

But in 2022, Biden  signed a law  that required all Medicare prescription drug plans to cap all insulin products at $35. The law also capped the out-of-pocket price for insulin that’s covered under Medicare Part B, which covers drugs administered in a health care provider’s office. The caps went into effect last year.

STAT, a news site that covers health care issues,  reported  that the idea for a $35 cap for seniors initially came from Eli Lilly, the pharmaceutical company, which proposed it in 2019.

Trump on Biden Tax Plan

“He’s the only one I know he wants to raise your taxes by four times,” Trump said of Biden. “He wants to raise everybody’s taxes by four times. He wants the Trump tax cuts to expire. So everybody … [is] going to pay four to five times –  nobody ever heard of this before.”

Trump regularly warns of massive tax hikes for “everybody,” should Biden be reelected. That doesn’t jibe with anything Biden has proposed.

In his more than three years as president, Biden’s  major tax changes  have included setting a  minimum corporate tax rate  of 15% and lowering taxes for some families by  expanding the child tax credit  and, for a time, making it fully refundable, meaning families could still receive a refund even if they no longer owe additional taxes.

As  we wrote  in 2020, when Trump made a similar claim, Biden proposed during that campaign to raise an additional $4 trillion in taxes over the next decade, although the increases would have fallen mainly on very high-income earners and corporations. The plan would not have doubled or tripled people’s taxes at any income level (on average), according to analyses of Biden’s plan by the  Penn Wharton Budget Model ,  the Tax Policy Center  and  the Tax Foundation .

In March 2023, the TPC’s Howard Gleckman  wrote  that Biden proposed a 2024 budget that would, on average, increase after-tax incomes for low-income households and “leave them effectively unchanged for middle-income households.” The Tax Policy Center noted, “The top 1 percent, with at least roughly $1 million in income, would pay an average of $300,000 more than under current law, dropping their after-tax incomes by 14 percent.”

This March, Biden released his  fiscal year 2025 budget , which contains many of the same proposals and adds a few new wrinkles. But it still  does not contain  any “colossal tax hikes” on typical American families, as Trump has said.

Biden’s latest plan proposes — as he has in the past — to increase the corporate income tax rate from 21% to 28%, and to  restore  the top individual tax rate of 39.6% from the current rate of 37%. It would also increase the corporate minimum tax rate from 15% to 21% for companies that report average profits in excess of $1 billion over a three-year period. And the plan would impose a 25% minimum tax on very wealthy individuals. The plan also proposes to extend the expanded child tax credit enacted in the American Rescue Plan through 2025, and to make the child tax credit fully refundable on a permanent basis.

Trump is also mostly wrong that Biden “wants the Trump tax cuts to expire.”

As he has said since the 2020 campaign, Biden’s FY 2025 budget vows not to increase taxes on people earning less than $400,000.

In order to keep that pledge, Biden would have to extend most of the individual income tax provisions enacted in the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act that are set to expire at the end of 2025. And that’s what Biden says he would do — but  only for  individual filers earning less than $400,000 and married couples making less than $450,000. (In order to pass the TCJA with a simple Senate majority, Republicans wrote the law to have most of the individual income tax changes  expire after 2025 .)

The Biden budget plan “would raise marginal income tax rates faced by higher earners and corporations while expanding tax credits for lower-income households,” according to a Tax Foundation  analysis  of the tax provisions in Biden’s budget. “The budget would redistribute income from high earners to low earners. The bottom 60 percent of earners would see increases in after-tax income in 2025, while the top 40 percent of earners would see decreases.”

Biden on Taxes Paid by Billionaires

In arguing that wealthy households should pay a minimum tax, Biden repeated his misleading claim that billionaires pay an average federal tax rate of 8%.

“We have a thousand … billionaires in America, and what’s happening?”  Biden said . “They’re in a situation where they in fact pay 8.2% in taxes.”

That’s not the average rate in the current tax system; it’s a figure  calculated  by the White House and factors in earnings on unsold stock as income. When only considering income, the top-earning taxpayers, on average, pay higher tax rates than those in lower income groups, as  we’ve written  before.

The top 0.1% of earners pay an average rate of 25.1% in federal income and payroll taxes,  according to  an analysis by the Tax Policy Center in October 2022 for the 2023 tax year.

The point that Biden tried to make is that earnings on assets, such as stock, currently are not taxed until that asset is sold, which is when the earnings become subject to capital gains taxes. Until stocks and assets are sold, the earnings are referred to as “unrealized” gains. Unrealized gains, the White House  has argued , could go untaxed forever if wealthy people hold on to them and transfer them on to heirs when they die.

Roe v. Wade

As he has  before , Trump wildly exaggerated the popularity of ending Roe v. Wade — even going so far as to claim that it was “something that everybody wanted.”

“51 years ago, you had Roe v. Wade and everybody wanted to get it back to the states,”  he said , referring to the 1973 Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion, which was  overturned  in 2022.

Trump:  Everybody, without exception: Democrats, Republicans, liberals, conservatives. Everybody wanted it back — religious leaders. And what I did is I put three great Supreme Court justices on the court and they happened to vote in favor of killing Roe v. Wade, and moving it back to the states. This is something that everybody wanted. Now 10 years ago or so they started talking about how many weeks and how many this and getting into other things. But every legal scholar throughout the world — the most respected — wanted it brought back to the states. I did that.

In fact, a majority of Americans have disagreed with ending Roe v. Wade, including plenty of legal scholars, as we’ve explained  before . While some scholars criticized aspects of the legal reasoning in Roe, it did not necessarily mean they wanted the ruling overturned. Legal experts told us that Trump’s claim was “utter nonsense” and “patently absurd.”

Trump Wrong on Jobs

After Biden talked about job creation during his administration, Trump falsely claimed that “the only jobs [Biden] created are for illegal immigrants and bounced back jobs that bounced back from the COVID.”

In fact, as of May,  total nonfarm employment  in the U.S. had gone up about 6.2 million from the pre-pandemic peak in February 2020, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The increase is about 15.6 million if you count from when Biden took office in January 2021 until now — but that would include some jobs that were temporarily lost during the pandemic and then came back during the economic recovery.

Furthermore, there is no evidence that only “illegal immigrants” have seen employment gains.

Since Biden became president in January 2021, employment of U.S.-born workers has increased more than employment of foreign-born workers, a category that includes anyone who wasn’t a U.S. citizen at birth, as we’ve written before . BLS says the  foreign-born  population includes “legally-admitted immigrants, refugees, temporary residents such as students and temporary workers, and undocumented immigrants.” There is no employment breakdown for just people in the U.S. illegally.

In looking at employment since the pre-pandemic peak, the employment level of  foreign-born workers  was up by about 3.2 million, from roughly 27.7 million in February 2020 to nearly 30.9 million in May. Employment for the  U.S.-born population  increased by about 125,000 — from nearly 130.3 million in February 2020 to 130.4 million, as of May.

Conflicting Budget Deficit Claims

Biden and Trump accused each other of presiding over the largest budget deficit in the U.S.

After talking about Trump’s plans for additional tax cuts, Biden said Trump already had the “largest deficit of any president in American history.” When he got a chance to respond, Trump said, “We now have the largest deficit in the history of our country under this guy,” referring to Biden.

Biden is correct: The  largest budget deficit  on record was about $3.1 trillion in fiscal year 2020 under Trump. However, that was  primarily  because of trillions of dollars in emergency funding that both congressional Republicans and Democrats approved to address the COVID-19 pandemic. Before the pandemic, the largest budget deficit under Trump was about $1 trillion in fiscal 2019.

Meanwhile, the most recent budget deficit under Biden was about $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2023. As of June, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office  projected  that the deficit for fiscal 2024, which ends on Sept. 30, would be about $2 trillion.

Black Unemployment

Biden boasted that on his watch, “Black unemployment is the lowest level it has been in a long, long time.”

It’s true that the unemployment rate for Black or African American people reached a record low of 4.8% in April 2023, but it is currently 6.1%,  according to  the Bureau of Labor Statistics, which has data going back to 1972.

Also, the unemployment rate was low under Trump, too, until the pandemic.

Under Trump, the  unemployment rate for Black Americans  went down to 5.3% in August 2019 – the lowest on record at that time. It shot up to 16.9% in April 2020, when the economic effects of the pandemic took hold. When Trump left office in January 2021, amid the pandemic, the rate was 9.3%.

The rate has been 6% or less in only 29 months since 1972, and it happened only under two presidents: 21 times under Biden and eight times under Trump.

‘Suckers and Losers’

Biden  said  Trump called U.S. veterans killed in World War I “suckers and losers,” which Trump called a “made up quote … that was in a third-rate magazine.”

It was first reported by a magazine — the Atlantic — but Trump’s former chief of staff,  John F. Kelly , a retired four-star Marine general, later seemed to confirm it.

Biden was referring to a trip Trump made to France in November 2018, where he reportedly declined to visit the  Aisne-Marne American Cemetery  near the location of the Battle of Belleau Wood. “He was standing with his four-star general and he told him, ‘I don’t want to go in there because they’re a bunch of losers and suckers.’”

The Atlantic  wrote  about this alleged incident in 2020, citing unnamed sources. The magazine wrote that Trump made his remark about “losers” when he declined to visit the Aisne-Marne American Cemetery, and his remark about “suckers” during that same trip.

The Atlantic, Sept. 3, 2020:  In a conversation with senior staff members on the morning of the scheduled visit, Trump said, “Why should I go to that cemetery? It’s filled with losers.” In a separate conversation on the same trip, Trump referred to the more than 1,800 marines who lost their lives at Belleau Wood as “suckers” for getting killed.

In October 2023, Kelly – who was on that trip and visited the Aisne-Marne Cemetery — gave a  statement to CNN  that seemed to confirm those remarks. CNN published Kelly’s statement.

CNN, Oct. 3, 2023:  “What can I add that has not already been said?” Kelly said, when asked if he wanted to weigh in on his former boss in light of recent comments made by other former Trump officials. “A person that thinks those who defend their country in uniform, or are shot down or seriously wounded in combat, or spend years being tortured as POWs are all ‘suckers’ because ‘there is nothing in it for them.’ A person that did not want to be seen in the presence of military amputees because ‘it doesn’t look good for me.’ A person who demonstrated open contempt for a Gold Star family – for all Gold Star families – on TV during the 2016 campaign, and rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America’s defense are ‘losers’ and wouldn’t visit their graves in France.”

Trump said, “We had 19 people who said I didn’t say it.” One of those who said that he didn’t hear Trump make those remarks is John Bolton, Trump’s former national security adviser who was also on the trip and said he was there when the decision was made not to visit the cemetery.

“I didn’t hear that,” Bolton  told the New York Times  in 2020 after the magazine story first appeared. “I’m not saying he didn’t say them later in the day or another time, but I was there for that discussion.”

Biden Misleads on Jobs

Biden ignored the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic when he criticized Trump for employment going down over Trump’s time in office.

“He’s the only president other than Herbert Hoover that lost more jobs than he had when he began,” Biden said.

Job growth during Trump’s term was positive until the economy lost 20.5 million jobs in April 2020, as efforts to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus led to business closures and layoffs. By the time Trump left office in January 2021, employment had partly rebounded, but was still 9.4 million jobs below the February 2020 peak,  according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics .

Trump repeatedly claimed that Biden “caused the inflation” and that “I gave him a country with no essentially no inflation. It was perfect. It was so good.”

It’s true that inflation was relatively modest when Trump was president. The  Consumer Price Index rose 7.6%  under Trump’s four years — continuing a long period of low inflation. And inflation has been high over the entirety of Biden’s time in office. The  Consumer Price Index  for all items rose 19.3% between January 2021 and May.

For a time, it was the worst inflation in decades. The 12 months ending in June 2022 saw a 9% increase in the CPI (before seasonal adjustment), which the  Bureau of Labor Statistics said  was the biggest such increase since the 12 months ending in November 1981.

Inflation has moderated more recently. The CPI  rose  3.3% in the 12 months ending in May, the most recent figure available.

Although Trump claims that Biden is entirely responsible for massive inflation, economists  we have spoken to  say Biden’s policies are only partly to blame. The economists placed the lion’s share of the blame for inflation on disruptions to the economy caused by the pandemic, including supply shortages, labor issues and increased consumer spending on goods. Inflation was then worsened by Russia’s attack on Ukraine, which drove up oil and gas prices, experts told us.

Indeed, inflation has been a  worldwide problem  post-pandemic.

However, many economists say Biden’s policies — particularly aggressive stimulus spending early in his presidency to offset some of the economic damage caused by the pandemic — played a modest role.

Jason Furman , a former economic adviser to President Barack Obama and now a Harvard University professor, told us in June 2022 that he estimated about 1 to 4 percentage points worth of the inflation was due to Biden’s stimulus spending in the  American Rescue Plan  — a $1.9 trillion pandemic relief measure that included $1,400 checks to most Americans; expanded unemployment benefits; and money for schools, small businesses and states.  Mark Zandi , chief economist of Moody’s — whose work is often cited by the White House — said the impact of the stimulus measure now “has largely faded.”

Economists note that the American Rescue Plan came after two other pandemic stimulus laws enacted under Trump that were  worth  a  total  of $3.1 trillion. That spending, too, could have contributed to inflation.

Immigrants Entering U.S. Under Biden

Trump grossly inflated the number of immigrants who have entered the country during the Biden administration — putting the number at 18 million to 20 million. The number, by our calculation, is about a third of that. Trump also claimed, without evidence, that many of those immigrants are from prisons and mental institutions.

“It could be 18, it could be 19, and even 20 million people,” Trump said of the immigrants who have entered the U.S. during the Biden administration. Later in the debate, Trump asked Biden why there had been no accountability “for allowing 18 million people many from prisons, many from mental institutions” into the country.

That’s a greatly exaggerated number. We took a deep dive into the immigration numbers  in February , and again in  mid-June , and we came up with an estimate of at most a third of Trump’s number.

Here’s the breakdown:

Department of Homeland Security data show nearly 8 million encounters at the U.S.-Mexico border between February 2021, the month after Biden took office, and May, the last month of available  statistics . That’s a figure that includes both the 6.9 million apprehensions of migrants caught between legal ports of entry – the number typically used for illegal immigration – and nearly 1.1 million encounters of migrants who arrived at ports of entry without authorization to enter the U.S.

DHS also has comprehensive data, through February, of the initial processing of these encounters. That information shows 2.9 million were removed by Customs and Border Protection and 3.2 million were released with notices to appear in immigration court or report to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in the future, or other classifications, such as parole. (Encounters do not represent the total number of people, because some people attempt multiple crossings. For example, the recidivism rate was 27% in fiscal year 2021,  according to the most recent figures  from CBP.) 

As  we’ve explained before , there are also estimates for “gotaways,” or migrants who crossed the border illegally and evaded the authorities. Based on an average annual apprehension rate of 78%, which DHS provided to us, that would mean there were an estimated 1.8 million gotaways from February 2021 to February 2024. The gotaways plus those released with court notices or other designations would total about 5 million.

There were also 407,500 transfers of unaccompanied children to the Department of Health and Human Services and 883,000 transfers to ICE. The ICE transfers include those who are then booked into ICE custody, enrolled in “ alternatives to detention ” (which include technological monitoring) or released by ICE. We don’t know how many of those were released into the country with a court notice. But even if we include those figures, it still doesn’t get us to anywhere near 18 to 20 million.

And we should note that these figures do not reflect whether a migrant may ultimately be allowed to stay or will be deported, particularly since there is a yearslong backlog of immigration court cases.

Also, as we have  written   repeatedly , Trump has provided no credible support for his incendiary claim that countries are emptying their prisons and mental institutions and sending those people to the U.S. Experts tell us they have seen no evidence to substantiate it.

Earlier this month, we looked into  Trump’s claim as it relates to Venezuela, because Trump has repeatedly cited a drop in crime there to support his claim about countries emptying their prisons and sending inmates to the U.S. Reported crime is trending down in Venezuela, but crime experts in the country say there are numerous reasons for that — including an enormous out-migration of citizens and a consolidation of gang activity — and they have nothing to do with sending criminals to the U.S.

“We have no evidence that the Venezuelan government is emptying the prisons or mental hospitals to send them out of the country, whether to the USA or any other country,” Roberto Briceño-León, founder and director of the independent Venezuelan Observatory of Violence, told us.

Border Under Trump

Trump claimed that “we had the safest border in history” in the “final months” of his presidency, according to Border Patrol. But according to  data  provided by Customs and Border Protection, apprehensions of those trying to cross illegally into the U.S. in the last three full months of Trump’s presidency were about 50% higher than in the  three months  before he took office.

In fact, as we wrote in our piece, “ Trump’s Final Numbers ,” illegal border crossings, as measured by  apprehensions at the southwest border , were 14.7% higher in Trump’s final year in office compared with the last full year before he was sworn in.

But these statistics tell only part of the story. The number of apprehensions fluctuated wildly during Trump’s presidency, from a  monthly  low of 11,127 in April 2017 to a high of 132,856 in May 2019.

Back in April,  we wrote  about a misleading chart that Trump showed to the crowd during a speech in Green Bay, Wisconsin. “See the arrow on the bottom? That was my last week in office,” Trump said. “That was the lowest number in history.” But Trump was wrong on both points.

The arrow was pointing to apprehensions in April 2020, when apprehensions plummeted during the height of the pandemic.

“The pandemic was responsible for a near-complete halt to all forms of global mobility in 2020, due to a combination of border restrictions imposed by countries around the world,”  Michelle Mittelstadt , director of communications for the Migration Policy Institute, told us.

After apprehensions reached a pandemic low in April 2020, they rose every month after that. In his last months in office, apprehensions had more than quadrupled from that pandemic low and were higher than the month he took office.

Trump falsely claimed that “some states” run by Democrats allow abortions “after birth.” As  we have written , that’s simply false. If it happened, it would be  homicide , and that’s  illegal .

“No such procedure exists,” the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists  says  on its website.

The former president  has wrongly said  that abortions after birth were permitted under Roe v. Wade — the Supreme Court ruling that established a constitutional right to abortion until it was  reversed  in 2022. It was not.

Under Roe, states could outlaw abortion after fetal viability, but with exceptions for risks to the life or health of the mother. Many Republicans  have objected  to the health stipulation, saying it would allow abortion for any reason. Democrats say exceptions are needed to protect the mother from medical risks. We should note, late-term abortions  are rare . According to the  Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , less than 1% of abortions in the U.S. in 2020 were performed after 21 weeks gestational time.

In June 2022, after Trump had appointed three conservative justices to the Supreme Court, the court  overturned  Roe in a 5-4 ruling. Biden  supports  restoring Roe as “the law of the land,” as he said in his State of the Union address in March.

Trump Calls Border ‘The Most Dangerous Place’

In his focus on the U.S. border with Mexico, Trump  made  the unsupported claim that it is “the most dangerous place in the world.”

It’s true that unauthorized border crossings  can be dangerous  — 895 people died while doing so in fiscal year 2022, which is the most recent year for which the Customs and Border Protection has  data . Most of those deaths were heat related.

And the International Organization for Migration called calendar year 2022 “the deadliest year on record” for migration in the Americas, with a total of 1,457 fatalities throughout South America, Central America, North America and the Caribbean. The organization began tracking deaths and disappearances related to migration in 2014.

“Most of these fatalities are related to the lack of options for safe and regular mobility, which increases the likelihood that people see no other choice but to opt for irregular migration routes that put their lives at risk,” the organization said in its  2022 report .

Trump suggested that the border crossings imperil Americans when he went on to say, “these killers are coming into our country, and they are raping and killing women.”

But, as  we’ve written before , FBI data show a downward trend in violent crime in the U.S., and there’s no evidence to support the claim that there’s been a crime wave driven by immigrants.

Crime analyst Jeff Asher, co-founder of the New Orleans firm  AH Datalytics , told us in May that there’s no evidence in the data to indicate a migrant crime wave.

Similarly, Jeffrey Butts, director of the Research and Evaluation Center at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice,  told the New York Times  in February there was no evidence of a migrant crime wave in New York City after Texas Gov. Greg Abbott began busing migrants there in April 2022.

“I would interpret a ‘wave’ to mean something significant, meaningful and a departure from the norm,” Butts said at the time. “So far, what we have are individual incidents of crime.”

Also, it’s worth noting that the Institute for Economics and Peace’s  Global Peace Index  — which measures the safety of 163 countries based on 23 indicators, including violent crime, deaths from internal conflict and terrorism — said the “least peaceful country” is Afghanistan, followed by Yemen, Syria, South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In discussing inflation, the former president embellished the degree to which food prices have increased.

“It’s killing people. They can’t buy groceries anymore,” Trump said. “You look at the cost of food, where it’s doubled, tripled and quadrupled. They can’t live.”

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Consumer Price Index for food has  gone up 17.5%  — not 100% to 300% — since January 2021. The Consumer Price Index specifically for groceries, or “food at home,” has  risen 20.8% .

Climate Change

During a short exchange about climate change, Trump boasted that during his tenure “we had the best environmental numbers ever.” It is not clear what he was referring to exactly, but he said if elected president he wanted to have “absolutely immaculate clean water and I want absolutely clean air — and we had it.” He might have been referring to a talking point that Andrew Wheeler, Trump’s former Environmental Protection Agency administrator, had recommended Trump mention during the debate: “CO2 emissions went down” during his administration, as  the Hill reported . 

Greenhouse gas emissions, which are responsible for global warming,  did decline  from 2019 to 2020. But that was “largely due to the impacts of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic on travel and economic activity,” according to the EPA. Emissions increased by 5.7% from 2020 to 2022, once the economy started getting reactivated again, the agency said. 

According to an  analysis by the New York Times , Trump’s administration reversed nearly 100 environmental rules, including 28 regulations on air pollution and emissions, and eight rules that limited water pollution. Reportedly, Trump  recently asked  oil executives and lobbyists to donate to his campaign, promising he would roll back other environmental rules that hurt fossil fuel interests. 

“He’s not done a damn thing for the environment,” Biden said in response, pointing out that Trump had  pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement . “I immediately joined it because if we reach the 1.5 degrees Celsius … there’s no way back,” Biden said. 

As  we’ve reported , although reaching 1.5 degrees Celsius, or 2.7 degrees Fahrenheit, of warming comes with a number of very serious impacts, it is not a point of no return. Scientists agree that every increment of global warming increases these negative impacts, but 1.5 degrees is not a magic number after which everything is doomed, they say. 

Immigrants Living in Hotels

During the debate, Trump  mentioned   twice  that while immigrants crossing the border illegally were “living in luxury hotels,” in New York City and other cities “our veterans are living in the street.”

While it is true that New York City has  provided   hotel   rooms  to migrant families as a temporary shelter solution, there is no evidence that immigrants are being placed in “luxury” hotels. 

In 2023, Mayor Eric Adams  signed  a $275 million contract with the Hotel Association of New York City to house 5,000 migrants. The deal was intended to help  struggling hotels  impacted by the pandemic and did not expect to include luxury hotels. “There are no gold-plated rooms that are being given away contrary to any reports that you may have seen,” the association president  told NY1  at the time. In January, the city  signed  another $77 million contract to shelter migrant families in hotels. 

In April, social media posts falsely claimed immigrants had stormed New York City Hall to demand luxury hotel accommodations. But as the  Associated Press reported , the immigrants were there for a hearing about racial inequities in shelter and immigrant services. 

In 2023, the number of veterans experiencing homelessness increased 7.4% from 2022, according to  data  from the Department of Housing and Urban Development. But homelessness among veterans has been declining in recent years, with a 4% overall reduction within the last three years alone. 

Terrorist Attacks Under Trump

While talking about Iran and terrorism, Trump falsely claimed that “you had no terror, at all, during my administration.” As  we’ve written , there were several acts of terrorism carried out by foreign-born individuals when Trump was in office.

For example, in October 2017, Sayfullo Saipov  used  a truck to run down people in New York City. He killed eight people,  including  Americans and tourists, in an attack carried out on behalf of the Islamic State.

Then in December 2017, Akayed Ullah  detonated  a homemade pipe bomb he was wearing inside a New York City subway station. Ullah  told  authorities he did it in response to U.S. airstrikes against the Islamic State in Syria and other places.

Then in  December 2019 , Second Lt. Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani, a member of the Royal Saudi Air Force, shot 11 people at Florida’s Naval Air Station Pensacola, killing three U.S. sailors. Trump’s own attorney general, William Barr,  called  it an act of terrorism in January 2020. “The evidence shows that the shooter was motivated by jihadist ideology,” Barr said in a statement.

China Trade Deficit

When discussing U.S. trade relations with China, Trump said “we have the largest deficit with China.” That’s false, as  we’ve written .

In 2023, the U.S. had a trade deficit with China in goods and services of roughly $252 billion,  according to  revised figures the Bureau of Economic Analysis  released  in early June. The deficit in goods trading was about $279 billion which was partially offset by a roughly $27 billion surplus in the trading of  services  — which can include travel, transportation, finance and intellectual property.

The trade gap with China last year was the lowest it had been since 2009, when it was $220 billion.

In fact, according to BEA data going back to 1999, the highest total U.S.-China trade deficit in goods and services was about $378 billion in 2018 — when Trump was president. Under Biden, the highest trade deficit with China was $366 billion in 2022.

Not ‘Greatest Economy’ Under Trump

Trump falsely said that prior to the pandemic, the U.S. had “the greatest economy in the history of our country. … Everything was locked in good.”

Trump’s boast about creating the “greatest economy in history” is ubiquitous in his campaign speeches. And it’s not true, at least not by the objective measure typically used to gauge the health of the economy.

As  we have written , economists generally measure a nation’s health by the growth of its  inflation-adjusted gross domestic product . Under Trump, growth was modest. Real GDP in Trump’s four years grew annually by 2.5% in 2017, 3% in 2018 and 2.5% in 2019 — before the economy went into a tailspin during the pandemic in 2020, when real GDP declined by 2.2%,  according to  the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

So, in the best year under Trump, U.S. real GDP grew annually by 3%. By contrast, the nation’s economy grew at a faster annual rate  48 times  and under every president before and after Trump dating to 1930, except Barack Obama and Herbert Hoover. The economy grew at more than 3% six of Ronald Reagan’s eight years, including 7.2% in 1984, and it grew 5% or more 10 times under Franklin D. Roosevelt, including 18.9% in 1942.  Under Biden , the GDP grew by 5.8% in 2021 — a post COVID-19 bounce-back — by 1.9% in 2022 and 2.5% in 2023.

Trump’s Was Not Largest Tax Cut in History

As he has many times before, Trump wrongly claimed, “I gave you the largest tax cut in history.” But saying this over and over, as Trump has for years, doesn’t make it any more true.

As  we have been writing  even before the 2017  Tax Cuts and Jobs Act  was enacted into law, while the law provided tax relief to nearly all Americans, it was not the largest tax cut in U.S. history either as a percentage of gross domestic product (the measure preferred by economists) or in inflation-adjusted dollars.

According to a Tax Policy Center  analysis , the law reduced the individual income taxes owed by Americans by about $1,260 on average in 2018. It also reduced the top corporate tax rate from  35% to 21% , beginning in January 2018.

The law signed by Trump was initially projected to cost $1.49 trillion over 10 years,  according to the nonpartisan Joint Committee on Taxation . It could end up costing substantially more if individual tax provisions are extended past 2025. Over the first four years, the average annual cost was estimated to be $185 billion. That was about 0.9% of  gross domestic product  in 2018.

That’s nowhere close to President Ronald Reagan’s 1981 tax cut, which was 2.89% of GDP over a four-year average. That’s according to a  2013 Treasury Department analysis  on the revenue effects of major tax legislation. Five more tax measures since 1940 had an impact larger than 1% of GDP, and the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget  includes  a 1921 measure as also being larger than the 2017 plan. That’s eighth place for Trump’s “biggest tax cut in our history.”

In inflation-adjusted dollars, the Trump-era tax cut is also less than the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which comes in at No. 1 with a $320.6 billion cost over a four-year average. And it’s less than tax reductions in 2010 ($210 billion) and 1981 ($208 billion).

Energy Independence

Trump boasted, as he  often does , that “on Jan. 6 [2021], we were energy independent,” implying that’s no longer the case under Biden. But by Trump’s definition, the country remains energy independent.

To be clear, under Trump, the U.S. never stopped  importing  sources of energy,  including crude oil , from other countries. What he likely means is that the country either  produced  more energy than it consumed, or  exported  more energy than it imported. During Trump’s presidency, after years trending in that direction, the U.S. did hit a tipping point where exports of primary energy exceeded energy imports from foreign sources in 2019 and 2020 — the first times that had happened since 1952,  according to  the U.S. Energy Information Administration. 

But contrary to Trump’s suggestion, that has continued in the Biden presidency. The U.S., during Biden’s presidency, has  exported  more energy,  including petroleum , than it imported, and it has  produced  more energy than it consumed. Also, the U.S. is producing record amounts of  oil  and  natural gas  under Biden.

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Research Assistant

Institute for fiscal studies.

• Closing: 5:00pm, 26th Jul 2024 BST

Job Description

Research Assistant (part-time, 1 year contract)

The IFS is looking to appoint a part-time research assistant to support a major evaluation of a youth violence reduction intervention.

About the project

The Institute for Fiscal Studies, alongside the Anna Freud Centre, are evaluating whether the effectiveness of Your Choice, a new way of supporting young people who work with a youth worker to keep them safe and health.  They are currently running an efficacy trial of the programme across the 32 boroughs of London, building on the pilot trial of the same programme .

Your Choice focuses on helping young people manage their thoughts and feelings and achieve their goals by building a strong relationship between the young person and the youth worker. Your Choice (YC) provides training for youth practitioners in Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) techniques, who then aim to provide 3 sessions per-week, for 12 -18 weeks to young people. Developed by the London Innovation and Improvement Alliance (LIIA), and supported by the London Violence Reduction Unit, youth practitioners receive 5 days of training and an accompanying handbook and resources, followed by monthly supervision from a Clinical Lead. Practitioners’ meetings with young people aim to build trusting and authentic relationships, using CBT techniques and tools to support the young person to better understand themselves, equip them with coping strategies, and empower them to disrupt unwanted patterns of behaviour. In this project, 11-17 year olds assessed by a multi-agency risk panel as having a medium or high risk of harm or vulnerability as a result of extra-familial harm were referred to the programme.

What’s the opportunity?

The team are looking for a research assistant to support the trial with the primary collection of data on young people, the quality assurance of the data, and the adherence of the trial with ethical protocols. As part of this work, you will have an opportunity to work with other researchers on the team, as well as a wide range of stakeholders, including local authorities, practitioners, and funders. This is a great opportunity to develop your skills and learn about research data collection methods and contribute to an interesting programme aimed at improving the welfare and opportunities of disadvantaged individuals in your local area.

Tasks may include:

Coordinating primary data collection – you will coordinate the team’s effort to collect baseline and endline data on trial participants, using a range of approaches. As part of this, you will investigate the barriers to data collection, problem solve with the evaluation and project team, and lead on the implementation of these solutions.

Quality assurance of primary data - you will clean primary data and produce analysis  and liaise with a range of stakeholders to assess its quality.  

Ensuring safeguarding concerns are appropriately dealt with in adherence to the ethical protocol.

About the person

We are looking for candidates who have:

Are completing or have recently completed university degree in social sciences

Understand the fundamentals of quantitative research and evaluation methods. You can perform simple analysis, interpret and communicate results to other team members. Previous experience working on a trial is desirable, but not essential.

Have excellent project management skills: you can plan work and execute against that plan; identify and act on risks and issues; ensure that key stakeholders are engage throughout

Are able and keen to develop solutions to problems, pilot these before implementation, and are able to evaluate whether or not they worked

Have very good written and oral communication skills

Demonstrate exceptional organisational skills, are detailed oriented and are reliable

Experience in MS Excel is essential; knowledge of STATA is desirable but not essential.

Can work three days a week, including at least two days from the IFS office in Bloomsbury

IFS recognise that there are underrepresented groups within research. Therefore, we welcome and encourage young people from Black and minoritised ethnic backgrounds, LGBTQIA+ communities, and neurodiverse groups to apply.

I’m interested! Who do I contact?

If you’re interested in joining us, please upload your CV and Cover Letter (as one document) detailing why you are interested in the post, how you believe you fit the requirements (including any relevant experience), and when you would be able to start.

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• Your application will be anonymously reviewed by our hiring team to ensure fairness
• You’ll need a CV/résumé, but it’ll only be considered if you score well on the anonymous review