A new war on poverty
NEITHER GEORGE Bush nor John Kerry is saying enough about poverty -- a state in which 36 million people live, according to 2003 Census data. In 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a War on Poverty, and the Economic Opportunity Act became law, ushering in job and training programs as well as efforts to reduce rural and urban poverty. The law's anniversary is being celebrated with an awards dinner on Friday by ABCD, the Boston antipoverty agency.
Forty years later it's time for a new war. There is some good news: Census data show that from 1959 to 2003, the poverty rate dropped from 22 percent to 12.5 percent. But since Bush became president, poverty rates have slowly increased. And swamps remain -- areas that could be drained through smart government action.
A new war on poverty should be a crusade for children. The census numbers: 13 million children are living in poverty, which is defined as an $18,850 income for a family of four. Children's rate of poverty is 18 percent, higher than that of adults (10.8 percent) and the elderly (10.2 percent). And 11 percent of children lack health insurance.
Whoever is president in January should call for more spending on children's health insurance, education, food, and housing -- a sound investment in future workers and parents. The president should also make a philosophical point: Welfare policies matter. Demonizing welfare recipients as lazy or careless can lead to grossly misguided policies that hurt children.
A new war on poverty should have this slogan: Pay Women More. In 2003 the median income of men working full time was $40,668. For women it was $30,724, meaning women earn 75.5 cents for every $1 men earn. The Bush administration peddles marriage as a cure for poverty. Better solutions include raising the minimum wage, training programs that place women in higher-paying jobs, and equal pay for equal work. If women earned more, they could lift their children out of poverty and bring economic stability to a marriage instead of facing the Victorian dilemma of being forced to marry for economic stability.
A new war on poverty should march into cities and rural areas. Too many local budgets are strained from paying spiraling homeland security costs. Cities need more affordable housing and homeownership programs to help families build wealth that can be passed to children and grandchildren. Rural poverty has declined, but rural areas cry out for transportation that brings people to jobs. And, urban or rural, locales around the country need stronger healthcare and public health campaigns. Families are crushed by huge hospital bills and raging illnesses for which uninsured patients did not seek early care.
The president should say: My fellow Americans, we have the tools to end poverty; help me build the will to end it.
