Concentrated Poverty

United
16.8 8.7 16.4 8.2
Kingdom
United States 21.0 11.7 17.2 15.1
Italy 30.7 14.3 19.7 9.1
A study done by Columbia University found that since the beginning of the War on
Poverty, the American poverty rate was reduced "from 26 percent in 1967 to 16 percent
in 2012." However Kevin Drum has criticized the study for combining elderly (in which
most of the reduction happened) with non-elderly poverty reduction which was much
less significant.
Opponents of Welfare Reducing Poverty
In the United States, members of both the Republican and Democratic Party (as well as
third parties such as the Libertarians) have favored reducing or eliminating welfare. The
landmark piece of legislation which reduced welfare was the Personal Responsibility
and Work Opportunity Act under the Clinton administration.
Conservative and libertarian groups such as the Heritage Foundation and the Cato
Institute assert that welfare creates dependence and a disincentive to work, and reduce
the opportunity of individuals to manage their own lives. This dependence is called a
"culture of poverty" which is said to undermine people from finding meaningful work.
Many of these groups also point to the large budget used to maintain these programs
and assert that it is wasteful.
In the book Losing Ground, Charles Murray argues that welfare not only increases
poverty but also increases other problems such as single-parent households, and crime.
Some socialists and Marxists argue that welfare states and modern social democratic
policies limit the incentive system of the market by providing things such as minimum
wages, unemployment insurance, taxing profits and reducing the reserve army of labor,
resulting in capitalists having little incentive to invest; in essence, social welfare policies
cripple the capitalist system and increase poverty. By implementing public or
cooperative ownership of the means of production, some socialists believe there will be
no need for a welfare state.
Public Opinion
In 2013, a NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll found that a plurality of Americans (24
percent) said "too much government welfare that prevents initiative" was the leading
cause of poverty.
A January 2014 Pew Research poll found that 49% of Americans believe government
aid to the poor does more good than harm as people can't escape poverty until basic
needs are met, and 54% believe taxes should be increased on the wealthy and
corporations to expand anti-poverty programs.
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