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  5. Did We Lose the War on Poverty?

Did We Lose the War on Poverty?

  • Dale W. Jorgenson
Journal of Economic Perspectives
vol. 12, no. 1, Winter 1998
(pp. 79-96)
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Abstract

Official U.S. poverty statistics based on household income imply that the proportion of the U.S. population below the poverty level reached a minimum in 1973, giving rise to the widespread impression that the elimination of poverty is impossible. By contrast, poverty estimates based on household consumption have fallen through 1989 and imply that the war on poverty was a success. This paper recommends replacing income by consumption in official estimates of poverty in order to obtain a more accurate assessment of the impact of income support programs and economic growth on the level and distribution of economic well-being among households.

Citation

Jorgenson, Dale W. 1998. "Did We Lose the War on Poverty?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, 12 (1): 79-96. DOI: 10.1257/jep.12.1.79

JEL Classification

  • I38 Welfare and Poverty: Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
  • I31 General Welfare
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