Why Poverty Is A Much Bigger Problem Than The Government Thinks

By John Halpin

Much has changed in American society since President Lyndon B. Johnson declared “unconditional war on poverty” in his State of the Union address on January 8, 1964. Women, people of color, the elderly, and people with disabilities are more strongly protected by law and more integrated into our national economy than they were in the 1960′s Republican efforts notwithstanding.

But unlike the 1960′s, when GDP and median wages rose together at a steady clip, today’s economy remains woefully bad for millions of Americans. A massive new study from the Half in Ten Campaign and the Center for American Progress of American attitudes about work, the war on poverty, and new proposals to fight poverty in the future underscores just how bad the problem is. Indeed, poverty, far from being a niche concern of “the poor,” is something that touches the lives over half of Americans.

As the…

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