The “War on Poverty” was declared by President Lyndon B. Johnson fifty years back but this is a war that is still going on today. Furthermore, the issue has just worsened over the last few decades as a study by City Observatory stated that the number of high poverty neighborhoods in our largest cities have tripled since 1970 and the number of poor people living in those high poverty neighborhoods has doubled. This is of course an issue that is being dealt with, but we will need to do a lot more if we ever hope to solve it. I’ll admit that dealing with poverty isn’t so simple. There is a lack of a high-quality education for those from a lower socioeconomic background and a lack of jobs due to many industries that have stagnated over the years. In addition, social issues like housing discrimination make it extremely hard for people, namely minorities, to find housing in a decent neighborhood.

Poverty isn’t something restricted to African Americans, Hispanics, or a specific race – but it’s true that minority groups are hurt the most by the far-reaching effects of poverty. While more federal aid and anti-poverty programs can indeed help, it’s not enough to solve this long-term issue. Poverty is cyclical – those who are in poverty are likely to stay in poverty for a long time but that doesn’t mean we can’t do anything about it. The government will need to take different approaches, some of which will be controversial such as increasing the federal minimum wage or increasing taxes on extremely wealthy individuals. Big businesses should also be doing more against poverty since they have been doing quite well in recent years. If we want to break the cycle of poverty, we will need everyone to do their part.