Misleading Statistics and the War on Poverty

Statistics can be very misleading. According to numbers newly released by the Census Bureau, the U.S. poverty rate stands at 12.6%, a virtually unchanged number from last year, and an increase from the record-low 1973 rate of 11.1%.

So does this mean Washington has utterly failed at its long-term efforts to reduce poverty? The numbers sure appear so, but in reality, that's the absolute wrong conclusion. Rather, as political economist Nicholas Eberstadt of the American Enterprise Institute explains, the material lives of the American poor have been bettered dramatically.

Yes, 12.6% of the populace may be considered poor, but the definition of "poor" has greatly changed from 1973 to today. Today's poor may earn lower incomes compared to others, but the overall standard of U.S. living has risen so highly that even most people under the poverty line have plentiful food, sizeable homes, televisions, telephones, dishwashers, computers, microwaves, DVD players, motor vehicles, access to quality health care, and so on. This is a striking difference from 1973, when even many affluent people could not access certain of these items.

Now that's not to say poverty has been eliminated; there are indeed many people out there who, sadly, still need help. But we shouldn't let statistics mislead us into believing that nothing has been accomplished. America has been winning the war on poverty, and as our capitalistic economy continues to grow, our success should only increase.