Cecil W. Stoughton (Public domain)
President Lyndon B. Johnson shakes the hand of one of the residents of Appalachia during his "Poverty Tour," May 1964.
Sixty years ago, President Lyndon Johnson declared “an unconditional war on poverty.” Using policies and programs as weapons, Johnson focused heavily on health coverage and “human capital.” His Great Society agenda also included key political reforms like the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 and 1968, the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, and the 1965 Voting Rights Act.
In many ways, the War on Poverty was wildly successful, with Head Start, Medicaid, and Medicare withstanding the test of time. But the effort fell short: It did little to guarantee incomes or rewrite the nation’s economic rules to ensure a level playing field for working people—especially people of color.
Poverty declined rapidly after Johnson’s policies. Much of that improvement, however, stemmed from widely shared economic growth. Our economy’s subsequent fifty-year failure to produce similar gains for low- and middle-income families as it has for high-income families limited further progress. Union membership declined as corporations and conservatives attacked workers’ ability to organize and undermined the benefits of unions at every turn. Today’s inflation-adjusted federal minimum wage is lower than it was in 1956. Corporate concentration rose steadily after staying generally stable in the immediate post-WWII period. More recently, mass incarceration and our immigration system’s failure to offer a path to citizenship have allowed poverty to persist, particularly within Black and brown communities.
As the War on Poverty unfurled, the August 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom called for a more comprehensive strategy to reshape our entire political economy. The march included demands for housing for all, guaranteed training and placement in decent jobs, an hourly minimum wage that would be nearly $20 today, a comprehensive expansion of the Fair Labor Standards Act, and more. The organizers aimed to guarantee a minimum living standard for all Americans.
The March on Washington filled in the gaps where the War on Poverty fell short. As march organizer Bayard Rustin reflected, “It began the process of focusing attention where it belongs: on the problem of what kind of economic and political changes are required to make it possible for everyone to have jobs.”
Johnson ultimately rejected calls within his administration to ensure a guaranteed annual income. Later Presidents of both parties clearly recognized Johnson’s shortcomings here. President Richard Nixon established Supplemental Security Income to support the elderly and others with disabilities. President Gerald Ford established the Earned Income Tax Credit to boost after-tax incomes for workers in low- and moderate-income families. President Jimmy Carter substantially strengthened and expanded what is today the SNAP program. President Bill Clinton established the Child Tax Credit just after shrinking cash assistance. President Barack Obama boosted multiple tax credits for the working and middle class, while President Joe Biden temporarily and permanently bolstered multiple income security programs.
Today, however, the United States has some of the highest rates of nonelderly poverty among wealthy nations and fails to support people when they initially immigrate to this country or when their income drops because of illness, disability, caregiving, or job loss. The United States also fails to adequately support parents when raising children, resulting in one of the highest levels of child poverty among industrialized nations.
Although Biden’s enhanced Child Tax Credit resulted in the lowest rates of child poverty on record and boosted living standards across the board, it expired when it fell one Senate vote short. The Senate now has the opportunity to pass a new and bipartisan version of the credit. While far from perfect, this would nonetheless lift 400,000 children out of poverty in its first year.
The War on Poverty was successful as far as it went. It simply didn’t go far enough. The next step is achieving transformative policies like guaranteed income and bolstering workers’ freedom to organize while ensuring strong labor standards across industries. Sixty years later, we have a clear path to effectively ending poverty in this country—and it hinges on shifting power in all its forms.
We’ve learned much in the past sixty years, but one reality stands out: Poverty undermines people’s ability to take advantage of opportunities in our country. In the end, all of us will benefit from a country without poverty holding back tens of millions from fully accessing the American Dream.
This column was produced for Progressive Perspectives, a project of The Progressive magazine, and distributed by Tribune News Service.