Almost all the programs of the US government are criticized and anti-poverty programs are one of those programs. All the anti-poverty programs are dismissed as ineffective and mocked as giveaways to undeserving people. However, a new report was published in which it was stated that all anti-poverty programs are working well especially Social Security programs. The report was published by the Chicago University employees Bruce D. Meyer and Derek Wu. The report stated that five of the six poverty programs sharply reduced the poverty while the sixth one had a decent impact in reducing poverty.
The five major anti-poverty programs include food stamps or SNAP, Social Security, housing assistance, Supplemental Security Income, and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. While the six program was Earned Income Tax Credit which helps people living below poverty line. Using administrative statistics both authors found that each program was highly underestimated by the fundamental measurements.
The reason for this underestimation was that the previous surveys were conducted on the basis of Census Bureau surveys, which diminishes the benefits of these programs. The authors further stated that the impact of two programs TANF and food stamps was underestimated by 1/3 to 1/2. And the impact of Social Security was underestimated about 44%.
The stats provided by these two authors covered the Great Recession time period of 2008-13. Bruce D. Meyer, UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO told that the poverty programs had reduced poverty and it would be totally wrong to say that these programs had no results.
These stats are important due to the fact that all these poverty programs come under attack by the budget cutters. Then they claim that despite trillions of dollars of spending on such programs, no major shift has occurred in poverty. Many Republicans quote the statement Ronald Reagan made in 1988:
Poverty won the war declared by Federal Government.
Trump administration has exploited the idea of cutting programs and made many anti-poverty efforts by blocking the funds of different states. But the truth is poverty has gone, said Meyer and Wu. And according to their report, Social Security alone has reduced 75% poverty among old people. While other programs proved beneficial for non-elderly people, said the authors.
However, in this research, it was not mentioned how these programs helped in reducing poverty. But in another research paper, Meyer stated that poverty rate did not count the tax received by poor households like EITC.
According to the official survey of the US government, only 4.4% of poverty has reduced from 1960 to 2010. But in his research paper, Meyer adjusted the flaws present in the official measurements and then reported that till 2010 the percentage of Americans living in poverty had dropped by 26 points.
Meyer further said that the claim that poverty did not reduce from the start of the war on poverty is nonsense. Due to two major reasons, the poverty has reduced sharply – one all the anti-poverty programs like Social Security and the second that economy of the United States has grown recently.
The facts provided by Meyer and Wu has told the people what is at stake. People often say that elderly people are counted as the best suited economical people but, in fact, the status of low-income seniors totally depends on Social Security. Almost all the low-income retired seniors are getting their complete salaries from Social Security, said Meyer. Taking away this facility would mean to push them below the poverty line. Meyer’s research showed that three-quarters of such seniors got above the poverty line with Social Security.
Meyer also said that he knows that every anti-poverty program is not as effective as it should be but labeling all these programs as waste is totally wrong. He further said that the Government should encourage more people to work. Even the seniors would prefer to work than to live on a grant, said Meyer. The government should provide public employment to such people and support them in their last stages of the life. All the anti-poverty programs are not planned well and there is a room for improvement, said Meyer.