War On Poverty
It all began due to an expose that highlighted how severe the issue of poverty was in America, contrary to people's perception. Despite the Appalachian lands being rich in coal, its residents were impoverished. Some causes of poverty were workers being pinned against one another based on their race, resulting in lower income causing them to go into debt. Not to mention people's ignorance to other economic sectors since they had a ton of natural resources. This is termed as the resource curse, in other words, having abundant natural resources hindering the growth of other sectors. In addition, the physical isolation caused by the mountain terrain adds to the high poverty rates.
President Johnson's efforts focused on four important pieces of legislation: 1. The Social Security Amendments. 2. The Food Stamp Act. 3. The Economic Opportunity Act. and finally 4. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Those acts and amendments played a vital role in aiding people who were less fortunate and suffering. For example, the Social Security Amendment created Medicare and Medicaid and other benefits for widows, retired men and women, people with disabilities, etc which was financed by an increase in the payroll tax rates. And the Economic Opportunity Act's purpose was to create programs to facilitate obtaining education, health, employment, and general welfare for people who are impoverished.
The decade following this war, poverty rates dropped to their lowest level since the records begin in 1958 from 17.3% to 11.1% and recent investigation showed that it has declined by 26% from the year 1960 to the year 2010 and has remained between 11 and 12.5% ever since then.
The term "war on poverty" refers to the initiatives that President Johnson's administration proposed, which were passed by Congress, and implemented by his Cabinet agencies as well as community movements and campaigns led by people in the working class towards the antipoverty policies. The War on Poverty took place in eastern Kentucky and was started by President Lydon B. Johnson in April 1964. It was part of the Great Society which is a wider legislative program. It began because he realized the corruption occurring and how people could not speak up about the issue since they feared being punished by higher powers.
Bibliography:
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Matthews, D. (2014, January 8). Everything you need to know about the war on poverty. Retrieved November 17, 2021, from Washington Post website: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/01/08/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-war-on-poverty/
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War on Poverty | History, Speech, Significance, & Facts | Britannica. (2021). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/topic/War-on-Poverty
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Appalachia’s Place in the War on Poverty. (2014). Retrieved November 17, 2021, from Appvoices.org website: https://appvoices.org/2014/04/09/appalachias-place-in-the-war-on-poverty/
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(2021). Retrieved 9 April 2021, from https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/appalachianlegacy_chapter.pdf