War on Poverty Research Paper

War on poverty officially began in 1964. It was an ambitious governmental determination to address the predicament of relentless poverty in the US. The central government in combination with state and confined governments, grassroots groups, and non-profit organizations developed a fresh institutional base for civil rights action and antipoverty, and, in the process, emphasized growing ideological and racial tensions in the American politics and society (Orleck & Hazirjian, 2011). Though marked by moments of consensus and controversy, the war on poverty brought a new epoch for American moderation and developed fresh layers to the US Welfare state. During the 1960s, there were significant social developments in war on poverty. Also, there were various programs instituted during the period to aid in war on poverty. In this assignment, I will discuss significant social developments in the 60s, which focused on war on poverty. I will also discuss conditions that shaped the developments and programs, which became instituted in the 60s.

One of the social developments during the period was the $ 11 billion tax cut. This was created in the Revenue Act of 1964. The tax cut was viewed as one way of mitigating poverty. The government could shift some part of taxes from consumers to itself. This also was projected to increase the investment rate, which could create an opportunity for employment, thus eradicating poverty among families. The Food Stamps Act, which became signed in 1964, was another significant social development. The Food stamps Act focused on creating a program that permitted low income families receive a greater share of the country’s food abundance than the high income households (Orleck & Hazirjian, 2011). This necessitated the war on poverty because through low income households obtaining a higher share than the high income households there could exist low chances of low income families dwelling in poverty. This led to the eradication of poverty. The Civil Rights Act was a significant social development since the Act gave Americans an equal opportunity (Clark, 2002). This implied that the Americans could not consider differences, which they had earlier. This made Americans come and work together in the war against poverty. African Americans, who were seen as slaves could obtain employment opportunities just like the whites. Also, American citizens could receive similar salaries regardless to race. This was crucial in the eradication of poverty.

In 1965, the Higher Education Act became another significant social development that focused on eradicating poverty in America. The Act focused on financing colleges and Universities that provided the necessary skills to young adults, who were seeking for employment opportunities at the time. Also, the Act became passed from the reasoning that there was a swelling number of young adults, who could not afford a college education since the cost in colleges was increasing at the moment, despite the need for college education in seeking employment opportunities (Clark, 2002). Students from low and middle income households were remarkably affected by the high college cost. However, with the Higher Education Act, college and university education became affordable. This meant that, students from low and middle income households could have the opportunity to obtaining college and university education just like students from high income households. This made job hunting easy for young adults from poor households. This reduced poverty levels. Another social development during that time was the establishment of the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This department was established in 1965. The department’s chief purpose was to increase home ownership and support community development. This was made through enhancing affordable home ownership opportunities, reducing chronic homelessness and fighting housing discrimination through ensuring equal opportunity in rental and purchase markets. In addition, another social development was the creation of Medicaid. Through the establishment of Medicaid, it was possible to increase the affordability of Medicare. The poor households could afford the medical care, which increased productivity. This led to the eradication of poverty in America.

The above social developments resulted from political discomfort, which was caused by poverty persistence in society. The civil rights movement raised questions regarding citizenship and the extent of poverty facing the society. The civil rights movement was influential in achieving social reforms that led to the social developments of the 60s (Clark, 2002). Therefore, the organizational and moral groundswell of the civil rights movement intensified the war on poverty leading to the social developments. Also, the rediscovery of poverty led to the social developments. Social reformers and journalists caught the attention of political leaders through their works. For instance, the Appalachian poverty done by Homer Bigart caught President Kennedy’s attention leading to social developments. The social reformers and journalists expressed how some Americans became forgotten; this led to political discomfort. It was through the creation of political discomfort that social reformers were capable of bringing social developments leading to war on poverty.

One of the programs established during the confrontation on poverty in 60s was the Head Start program. This program was established in 1965. It was created with a chief reason of promoting school readiness and providing a comprehensive array of social, nutritional and health services to eligible preschoolers together with their families (Orleck & Hazirjian, 2011). Through providing a comprehensive social, nutritional and health services, the program was necessary in war on poverty. Another program during the period was the legal service program. This program focused on achieving equal access to justice. Through equal access to justice, eradication of poverty was feasible since all citizens could be capable of accessing justice without any bias. The poor were capable of seeking justice without problems just like the affluent individuals. Job Corps was another program during that period. This program focused on teaching social and job skills to the disadvantaged young adults in order to assist them in getting control of their lives and obtaining good paying jobs so as to become independent (Clark, 2002). Through training the young adults, the program was capable of eradicating poverty. In addition, there was a rural loan program. Loans provided to the rural areas helped in fighting poverty.