What has happened since President Lyndon
Johnson declared an unconditional War on
Poverty in his January 8, 1964 State of the
Union Address? There is no doubt that the
United States has become a more affluent
nation since that famous declaration: Real
gross domestic product (GDP) per capita
has in fact doubled over the past 50 years.
Despite this growth, the official poverty rate
for 2012 now stands at 15 percent, a full 4
percentage points higher than it was during
the early 1970s. And the poverty rate is only
4 percentage points lower than the 19 percent
rate of 1964.
This apparent lack of progress against poverty
cannot be blamed on the economic
devastation wrought by the Great Recession,
although that certainly increased poverty
over the last five years. Rather, the direct
connection between economic growth and
poverty reduction is now much weaker than
in the past. Poverty remains high because
many workers have not shared in the economic
gains of the past 40 years; instead
most of those gains have been captured by
the economic elite.
Over these same decades, the official poverty
measure has increasingly obscured
some of the progress that has been made in
reducing poverty because it fails to account
for many government benefits the poor
now receive, such as Food Stamps and the
Earned Income Tax Credit. If these safety
net benefits were counted as family income,
today’s official poverty rate would fall from
15 to about 11 percent.
What has happened since President LyndonJohnson declared an unconditional War onPoverty in his January 8, 1964 State of theUnion Address? There is no doubt that theUnited States has become a more affluentnation since that famous declaration: Realgross domestic product (GDP) per capitahas in fact doubled over the past 50 years.Despite this growth, the official poverty ratefor 2012 now stands at 15 percent, a full 4percentage points higher than it was duringthe early 1970s. And the poverty rate is only4 percentage points lower than the 19 percentrate of 1964.This apparent lack of progress against povertycannot be blamed on the economicdevastation wrought by the Great Recession,although that certainly increased povertyover the last five years. Rather, the directconnection between economic growth and poverty reduction is now much weaker thanin the past. Poverty remains high becausemany workers have not shared in the economicgains of the past 40 years; insteadmost of those gains have been captured bythe economic elite.Over these same decades, the official povertymeasure has increasingly obscuredsome of the progress that has been made inreducing poverty because it fails to accountfor many government benefits the poornow receive, such as Food Stamps and theEarned Income Tax Credit. If these safetynet benefits were counted as family income,today’s official poverty rate would fall from15 to about 11 percent.
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