Assessing the Poverty Battle: Scholars Weigh In

The Russell Sage Foundation has scheduled an event on January 8, the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon B. Johnson’s declaration of an “unconditional war on poverty,” to discuss Legacies of the War on Poverty, a book of academic studies edited by Sheldon Danziger, the foundation’s president, and Martha Bailey, associate professor of economics at the University of Michigan.

Although the Johnson plan didn’t end poverty, the fund says, the studies show that it is “simplistic” to say it failed. Among the conclusions:

Successes

• The poverty rate for people 65 and older, which was 35 percent in 1959, fell sharply as Social Security expanded. The rate now stands at about 9 percent.
• The introduction of Medicaid and community health centers has increased access to health care for needy people. Community health centers have been credited with reducing infant mortality.
• Head Start produces long-term benefits for participants; for example, children who were enrolled in the program are more likely to go to college and to earn more money.
• Increased federal money for schools has reduced the gap in per-pupil spending between richer and poorer states.
• Food stamps have reduced child poverty and led to better nutrition.
• Medicare forced hospitals to desegregate to receive payments.

Disappointments

• Financial-aid programs have not shrunk the gap between the percentage of students from low-income and high-income families attending college.
• Only a few job-training programs have generated enough gains in education, employment, and earnings to reduce poverty.
• Child-care subsidies have had a neutral or even negative impact on child health and development, perhaps because of the poor quality of care.
• Large disparities in health outcomes still exist between the poor and nonpoor.

Challenges

• Fundamental changes in the economy since the 1960s—for example, wage stagnation, especially for less-educated workers—have hindered progress.
• The country must slow the growth of health-care costs to ensure that Medicaid and Medicare remain financially sustainable. Measures are needed to reduce waste and restructure the finances.

See all of our coverage timed to the 50th anniversary of the War on Poverty in this special section.