The War on Poverty: Victory or Failure?

Volume 3, Issue 11
January 8th, 2014

In the Spotlight

On January 8th, 1964,  President Lyndon B. Johnson declared war on one of the United States’ greatest enemies. Fifty years later, in 2014, the war continues to rage on against American poverty. Johnson’s declaration of this war was delivered to a nation still grieving over the loss of President Kennedy. Even though the nation faced a number of historic challenges, Johnson and Congress still managed to deploy great weapons against poverty.The Johnson era introduced ground breaking legislature as a first line of attack. The Johnson administration worked to create programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, food stamps, and work study. While these programs continue to remain intact over the past five decades, they have become worn weapons, that have come under intensified scrutiny in 2013.  Fifty years after the declaration of the war on poverty the programming to serve the poor continues to falter.

In 1964, 19% of Americans were considered poor. Today, around 16% of Americans are living in poverty. While this fact does not necessarily suggest that  war on poverty has been lost, it does highlight that it has greatly stagnated. 2013 marked a historic year in the fight; it marked a year in which adversaries to poverty took a great beating. In October, the U.S. government fully shutdown, sending the impoverished into a tail spin by limiting their access to life sustaining programming. In November food stamp benefits were dramatically cut. In December extended unemployment benefits halted.

The first year of the 113th U.S. Congress has been stained by their efforts to pull support from the nation’s poor. The events left 2013 to be a year characterized by detrimental fiscal cuts, and government incompetencies. Will 2014 be the year that the adversaries of poverty are enabled to continue fighting or will poverty continue to rise in this fight?

For more on the state of poverty after 2013, please see the Center for American Progress’ most recent reports on the  economy and  poverty across the states.

Direct Service Implications

Direct service providers, along with policy makers, and macro practitioners must continue to work together to combat poverty. If the assault on programs designed to aid the poor continues to prevail, the most vulnerable client populations will be forced to experience increasing economic and emotional strife. The spending cuts of 2013 and the idleness of the 113th Congress have already created a number of barriers for vulnerable populations to access care, food, and financial support. In order for 2014 to be the year that the fight against poverty is reignited, social service providers must continue to strengthen their ability to navigate the faulty welfare system and further lift their efforts to advocate for the needs of the populations they serve. By doing so, providers can again ignite the power behind the fight against poverty.

Courtesy of McSilver Institute of Poverty Policy and Research who has kindly given SJS permission to syndicate this piece.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in the articles listed in the Policy News Briefs are not necessarily the views of the McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research or NYU’s Silver School of Social Work. If you have comments or suggestions about this service, contact us at 212-998-5937 or simply reply to this email.