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Poverty Public Assistance Programs

President Lyndon B. Johnson initiated the countryÆs ôWar on Povertyö in his State of the Union address in 1964, with the statement ôThis administration today, here and now, declares unconditional war on poverty in Americaö (ôWar on Povertyö). The War on Poverty was intended to be a campaign of social and economic development to alleviate the poverty that affected the over 35 million Americans in poverty that year (ôWar on Povertyö). Three years later, in 1967, Senator Robert F. Kennedy toured the Mississippi Delta and was deeply touched by the plight of the poor there; ôchildren with bloated bellies who lived in dirt-floor shacksö painted a picture to Kennedy of the most abject poverty amidst a land of wealth and plenty (Cain 4). As civil rights leader Charles Evers later recalled, Kennedy was literally reduced to tears, asking ôHow can a country like this allow it? Maybe they just donÆt knowö (Cain 4). KennedyÆs trip received heavy coverage by network news on television and became the catalyst for profound and rapid changes in the countryÆs federal poverty programs.

The subsequent rapid and extensive development of government public-assistance programs to relieve poverty resulted in what is today a welfare system designed to assist the poor. Welfare, Medicaid, and panoply government assistance programs are available to help the disadvantaged, whatever the cause of their poverty may be. Yet many question the efficacy of public assistance programs, pointing out that poverty does not seem to be going away despite billions of dollars in assistance given to the poor. In fact, ôsince 1965, America has never seen more than a 4% single-year drop in the poverty rateö (ôWar on Povertyö). Poverty among Americans aged 18 to 64 has ôfallen only marginally since 1966,ö from 10.5% to 10.1% today, although it fell from 23% in 1964 to 16.3% today in one age groupùAmericans under 18 years old (ôWar on Povertyö). ...

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Poverty Public Assistance Programs. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 18:10, March 28, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709980.html