Crossing the Poverty Line

In the 1960s, the war against poverty in America was not won, but there were some notable victories. According to U.S. Census Bureau figures released last week, as of 1969 the number of Americans classified as poor dropped to 24.3 million, down from 39.5 million in 1959. Among both whites and nonwhites, the amount of upward traffic across the poverty line--$3,743 in annual income for a non-farm family of four, in 1969--was enormous. In 1959, 18.1% of white families were classified poor; in 1969, only 9.5%. The proportion of poor non-white families was also cut nearly in half--from 56.2% to 31.0%.

Moreover, the rate of improvement for blacks seems to be at least marginally greater than it is for whites. From 1968 to 1969, 5.3% of the black poor moved upward out of poverty, by the definition, while only 4% of poor whites crossed the line.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.