Writer Eduardo Porter sets out to probe whether anti-poverty programs have failed. He concludes that the programs have not failed. Although 50 million Americans remain mired in poverty, the situation would be far worse in the absence of measures like food stamps, Medicaid, cash assistance, and tax credits. Without these programs, the poverty rate today would be a staggering 31 percent rather than the actual (but still unacceptable) rate of 16 percent.
Simply put, the problem is that negative changes in the labor market directly condemn people to poverty. In Porter's words, "the main reason for America's persistent poverty is the disappearance of jobs with decent pay that can take workers above the poverty line without the government's help."
Let's remember this the next time we hear right-wingers attacking anti-poverty programs on the premise that they discourage people from competing hard enough for paid work. Let's point out that an ever-growing share of the people needing help are already in the labor market. They are trapped in the kind of labor market Charles Dickens would surely recognize.
Yours for more reality and less ideology,
Peter Laarman
Executive Director