War on Poverty

The War on Poverty was a campaign of social and economic development in the United States during the 1960's.

Results

Since 1965 America has never seen more than a 4% single-year drop in the poverty rate. Poverty saw its lowest point (11.1%) in 1973 around the same time America and other nations adopted fiat money and abolished the gold standard. Since 1973 the poverty line and the cost of welfare has become higher than it was in 1965. Again the Orshansky method of measuring poverty not being updated for modern costs requires emphasis.

Related Topics:
1973 - Fiat money - Gold standard - 1965 - Orshansky

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Poverty among Americans between ages 18-64 has fallen only marginally since 1966, from 10.5% then to 10.1% today. Poverty has significantly fallen among Americans under 18 years old from 23% in 1964 to 16.3% today. The most dramatic decrease in poverty was among Americans over 65, which fell from 28.5% in 1966 to 10.1% today.

Related Topics:
1966 - 1964

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Today, more than 35.9 million, or 12.1% of Americans (as of 2004) including 12.1 million children, are considered to live in poverty with an average growth of almost 1 million per year.

Related Topics:
2004 - Poverty

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