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Why Can’t We End Poverty?

Writing in The New York Times, Peter Edelman, a professor of law at Georgetown University, reminds us what Ronald Reagan once said, “We fought a war on poverty and poverty won.” Edelman also reminds us that with 46 million Americans — 15 percent of the population — now counted as poor, it’s tempting to think he may have been right.

Edelman makes clear in his article that more households than ever are headed by a single parent, “making it difficult for them to earn a living income from the jobs that are typically available.”

He writes that the “first thing needed if we’re to get people out of poverty is more jobs that pay decent wages.” The article reveals that, according to the most recent Census Bureau, 104 million people — a third of the population — have annual incomes below twice the poverty line, less than $38,000 for a family of three. Half the jobs in the nation pay less than $34,000 a year, according to the Economic Policy Institute.

Read the full New York Times article

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