Solving poverty
Over the years, we have tried lots of different things to “solve” poverty. From the programs of the New Deal down to Johnson’s “War on Poverty,” poverty is a perennial problem. Thinking about the policy discussion in Euchner and McGovern and Edwards and Imrie, the complexities of poverty illustrated in the films, and your own experience, what approach and policies do you think have the most promise for dealing with poverty? Consider poverty from both an individual and structural (e.g., society, economy) level. Provide examples/evidence from the readings and films to support your argument.
Solving poverty
There are many policy changes that could reduce poverty. The first necessary step, however, is a decision by policymakers – and the public – to make it a priority to reduce poverty and increase opportunities for those on the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. The key areas where more policy work, advocacy, and/or research are needed to bring about policy improvements that could reduce poverty and expand opportunity and where foundations are not already covering the waterfront include: addressing the needs of children in what we refer to as “deep poverty”; expanding work opportunism and filling gaps in “making work pay” policies; strengthening housing assistance; and addressing elderly poverty, which is more extensive than commonly believed.
