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Evaluating the Success of President Johnson's War on Poverty: Revisiting the Historical Record Using a Full-Income Poverty Measure

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  • Burkhauser, Richard V.

    (University of Texas at Austin)

  • Corinth, Kevin

    (American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research)

  • Elwell, James

    (Joint Committee on Taxation)

  • Larrimore, Jeff

    (Federal Reserve Board)

Abstract

We evaluate progress in President's Johnson's War on Poverty. We do so relative to the scientifically arbitrary but policy relevant 20 percent baseline poverty rate he established for 1963. No existing poverty measure fully captures poverty reductions based on the standard that President Johnson set. To fill this gap, we develop a Full-income Poverty Measure with thresholds set to match the 1963 Official Poverty Rate. We include cash income, taxes, and major in-kind transfers and update poverty thresholds for inflation annually. While the Official Poverty Rate fell from 19.5 percent in 1963 to 12.3 percent in 2017, our Full-income Poverty Rate based on President Johnson's standards fell from 19.5 percent to 2.3 percent over that period. Today, almost all Americans have income above the inflation-adjusted thresholds established in the 1960s.

Suggested Citation

  • Burkhauser, Richard V. & Corinth, Kevin & Elwell, James & Larrimore, Jeff, 2019. "Evaluating the Success of President Johnson's War on Poverty: Revisiting the Historical Record Using a Full-Income Poverty Measure," IZA Discussion Papers 12855, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    • Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp12855
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    Cited by:

    1. Jeff Larrimore & Jake Mortenson & David Splinter, 2020. "Presence and Persistence of Poverty in US Tax Data," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth, pages 383-409, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Jeehoon Han & Bruce D. Meyer & James X. Sullivan, 2020. "Income and Poverty in the COVID-19 Pandemic," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(2 (Summer), pages 85-118.
    3. Bruce D. Meyer & Derek Wu & Grace Finley & Patrick Langetieg & Carla Medalia & Mark Payne & Alan Plumley, 2020. "The Accuracy of Tax Imputations: Estimating Tax Liabilities and Credits Using Linked Survey and Administrative Data," NBER Chapters, in: Measuring Distribution and Mobility of Income and Wealth, pages 459-498, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    poverty in the united states; income measurement; in-kind transfers; tax credits;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D31 - Microeconomics - - Distribution - - - Personal Income and Wealth Distribution
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • I32 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Measurement and Analysis of Poverty
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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