by Melissa Boteach Kaplan (MD '04)

In his 1949 state of the union address, Harry Truman laid out the cornerstone of his domestic policy agenda, underscoring that “Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal." By a Fair Deal, Truman implied that that all Americans should have access to health insurance, fair wages, affordable housing, and a rising standard of living.

Unfortunately, the numbers released by the Census Bureau earlier this month imply that a “Fair Deal” is still a far ways a way for too many Americans. The most recent data reveal that last year 3.7 million additional people fell into poverty, for a total of 43.6 million, the largest number since the Census began keeping track in 1959. Median incomes declined, as did the number of Americans with health insurance coverage.

While these trends would have been significantly worse without the emergency assistance measures enacted in the Recovery Act, we can’t exactly pat ourselves on the back when more than one in five (20.7 percent) of America’s children lived in poverty last year, and racial and ethnic disparities widened at an alarming rate.

Often when we read these types of depressing numbers, our eyes glaze over. The problem of poverty is too big. Poverty will always be with us. These numbers are sad, but it doesn’t impact me.

Yet, if we look back at our history, we can see that poverty is not an intractable problem. There have been periods when economic gains were more equitably shared and we were able to significantly reduce poverty—periods when a strong near-full-employment economy was combined with governmental and private initiatives to lift all Americans up. Between 1964 and 1973, for example, poverty fell by more than 40 percent. Between 1993 and 2000 it fell by 25 percent.

Half in Ten, the campaign I manage at the Center for American Progress Action Fund (CAP Action), believes that we can achieve this kind of progress again, cutting the U.S. poverty rate by half in ten years. A study by our partner, Center for American Progress, underscored that this isn’t some pie in the sky target, but a goal within reach if we muster the political will to make sensible policy reforms. In fact, the study revealed that just 3 policies: raising the minimum wage, making the tax code work better for low-wage workers, and ensuring that childcare assistance is more broadly available could cut poverty by 26 percent over the next decade. 

Moreover, we believe that reducing poverty in America is not only the right thing to do, but also in our national self-interest. A recent study we commissioned from noted economist Harry Holzer revealed that child poverty alone cost the U.S. economy more than half a trillion dollars every year. Cost-effective interventions now could increase our economic growth and result in lower fiscal deficits in the future. 

How does the Half in Ten campaign work to achieve its goal to halve poverty over the next decade? Together with our three convening partners: CAP Action, The Coalition on Human Needs, and the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, we:

• work with  local groups to organize and train low-income families to advocate on behalf of themselves, and to build state-wide antipoverty campaigns;
• provide timely information and policy recommendations to lawmakers on legislation impacting low-income families
• recruit, educate and mobilize grassroots activists to advocate on behalf of policies that create decent-wage jobs, strengthen families, and promote economic security for families who fall on hard times.

 Why advocate for a national poverty-reduction goal? Having a target is important because it can encourage collaboration across various agencies working to reduce poverty and engage the private sector. Moreover, a target provides focus and accountability in our efforts to rebuild the middle class, encouraging lawmakers to judge proposals before them in relation to progress toward a larger goal.

Much of last year’s increase in poverty was caused by the lingering effects of the Great Recession. It is not surprising that more people fell into poverty as unemployment remained near record highs. It is important to remember, however, that poverty was a problem even before the Great Recession. Between 2003 and 2007 we experienced the first-ever economic “recovery” on record where productivity and profits grew but poverty went up and median incomes fell. The middle class and low-income families did not benefit from the gains accrued over the last decade.

We can and must do better this time around. A shared goal of cutting poverty in half provides that focus. As we rebuild our economy we must tackle poverty’s root causes. This means creating more decent-wage jobs, strengthening work supports, and investing in children early on so that everyone can participate in the economy. I invite all Truman Scholars to join us in achieving this Fair Deal for all Americans and endorsing a national goal to cut poverty in half in ten years,

Resources:

• Click here to access our interactive map, where you can find poverty data for your state and congressional district
• Click here to endorse a goal to cut the U.S. poverty rate in half in ten years and get involved in the campaign.

Melissa Boteach Kaplan (MD '04) is the Half in Ten Manager at the Center for American Progress Action Fund.