NEWS & COMMENTARY NC Civitas: Poverty in NC, Part I

We need to look hard at supporting two-parent families



There are few, if any, issues that better illustrate the stark difference between conservatives and liberals/progressives than the issue of poverty. Everybody agrees it is a problem and they would like to do something to reduce poverty. But the two camps differ on how to achieve the objective of reducing poverty.



What is clear to us is that the "War on Poverty" that began in the Lyndon Johnson era has failed. By most metrics poverty is as bad as it was before war was declared on it. That may be because Johnson and many Democrats do not actually want poverty eliminated or even substantially reduced. They prefer, rather, for more people to be dependent on government programs because those people tend to vote Democrat rather than Republican.



Republicans in general favor eliminating poverty by increasing economic growth and development. It is the idea that a rising tide raises all boats.



 Brin Balfour, of the NC Civitas has produced an excellent analysis of the issue and the impact government policies have on poverty. He summarizes his findings as: The Left's policies to fight poverty have failed



 Welfare programs subsidize poverty and create vicious poverty traps



 Over the last two-and-a-half decades, North Carolina has spent more than half a trillion dollars on welfare programs yet poverty rates have overall trended upward



 North Carolina families are roughly five times as likely to be in poverty when there is no father in the home to go to the original source to review the article.



Commentary



When you cut through all of the data and rhetoric on this issue, one fact becomes abundantly clear. The best thing the government can do is to promote policies that support two-parent families. This is especially true in relation to young people. Yet many government policies discourage two-parent families, not the least of which are welfare programs that favor single parent families.



Our schools and churches must return to teaching young people that preserving two-parent families is "the way it is supposed to be." Wonder what would happen if the policy was change that said that both biological parents must be present in the home in order for the family to get the maximum benefits from welfare programs?



We don't pretend to have all the answers, but this much we are sure about: What we are doing is not working to eliminate poverty. There's simply got to be a better way of helping families be economically self-sufficient and more economically productive.



With the growing trends in technology, especially robotics and artificial intelligence—innovation that will replace more and more jobs, we don't have a lot of time to change destructive government policies that foster and sustain poverty. There are few, if any, issues that better illustrate the stark difference between conservatives and liberals/progressives than the issue of poverty. Everybody agrees it is a problem and they would like to do something to reduce poverty. But the two camps differ on how to achieve the objective of reducing poverty.What is clear to us is that the "War on Poverty" that began in the Lyndon Johnson era has failed. By most metrics poverty is as bad as it was before war was declared on it. That may be because Johnson and many Democrats do not actually want poverty eliminated or even substantially reduced. They prefer, rather, for more people to be dependent on government programs because those people tend to vote Democrat rather than Republican.Republicans in general favor eliminating poverty by increasing economic growth and development. It is the idea that a rising tide raises all boats. Brin Balfour, of thehas produced an excellent analysis of the issue and the impact government policies have on poverty. He summarizes his findings as: Click here to go to the original source to review the article.

Print Email Comment Share