Study: More Than Half a Trillion Dollars Spent on Welfare But Poverty Levels Unaffected

I put this in the madness forum for the simple fact of how this study illuminates the politicization of poverty in the US.

The numbers are stunning. So stunning that one would expect to see positive results rather than the constant marginalization of the middle and lower income population in this country.

The federal government is not making much headway reducing poverty despite spending hundreds of billions of dollars, according to a study by the libertarian Cato Institute.

Despite an unprecedented increase in federal anti-poverty spending, the national poverty rate has not declined, the study finds. No real difference now from when Johnson kicked off his "war on poverty" in 1965.

“[S]ince President Obama took office [in January 2009], federal welfare spending has increased by 41 percent, more than $193 billion per year,” the study says.

Federal welfare spending in fiscal year 2011 totaled $668 billion, spread out over 126 programs, while the poverty rate that remains high at 15.1 percent, roughly where it was in 1965, when President Johnson declared a federal War on Poverty.

Its all about comfort and most likely the votes that are attached to said comfort IMO

The study faults the way poverty programs are designed, saying that the increase in spending and largely unchanged poverty rate showed that the issue is not a matter of money, but a matter of what the programs aim to achieve.

“The vast majority of current programs are focused on making poverty more comfortable – giv­ing poor people more food, better shelter, health care, and so forth – rather than giving people the tools that will help them escape poverty.”

Here is a novel approach!!! DC take note!! Is there too much to lose by helping people dig out of poverty??

Instead, the study recommends refocusing anti-poverty efforts on keeping people in school, discouraging out-of-wedlock births, and encouraging people to get a job – even if that job is a low-wage one.

“It would make sense therefore to shift our anti-poverty efforts from government programs that simply provide money or goods and services to those who are living in poverty to efforts to create the condi­tions and incentives that will make it eas­ier for people to escape poverty.

What say YOU!!

cnsnews.com...

In total, the United States spends nearly $1 trillion every year to fight poverty. That amounts to $20,610 for every poor person in America, or $61,830 per poor family of three.


THe study
www.cato.org...

edit on 25-6-2012 by jibeho because: (no reason given)

edit on 25-6-2012 by jibeho because: (no reason given)

reply to post by jibeho


I am just wondering if all the money they say was spent on Welfare programs...really is.

Also....I read somewhere ( don't remember where exactly- sorry) that lawmakers are working on taking anyone that is in their 20's and on welfare ..off of it...and they will have to go to work...in doing this the U.S. will save in the billions.

Not really hard to believe but not for the reasons you think. Really the whole idea behind welfare, extending unemployment and building projects is to pump money back into the economy by increasing peoples discretionary spending. Which in turn creates more demand which creates more jobs. But what happens when the largest chunk of that is going to pay for work that is no longer being done in the country? It just moves that money into the hands of those at the top where it multiplies in their investment accounts. Until you address outsourcing ,nothing you do will help the economy in any significant way. The leading cause of an anemic recovery is we finally reached that threshold of positions that can be outsourced without most of us feeling the pain of it.

That's cause just flat out giving money to people never works unless you have actual outreach and back to work programs that are included in said deal.

What do you expect, that people who like to get a free ride are going to stop suddenly? Pull themselves out of poverty? Not likely.

Even less likely with no community or government support for programs that create jobs and put those people back into the workforce.

~Tenth

Spend billions on welfare, yet poverty thrives.
Spend billions to feed people in other countries, yet they continue to starve.
Spend billions on education, yet students still can't find themselves on a map.
Spend billions on peace, yet millions continue to be murdered by our bombs.

Maybe it's time for austerity.

/TOA