U.S. Poverty Rate Decreased 40% Over Last 50 Years Due To Safety Net Programs

U.S. poverty rate decreased over past half-century thanks to safety-net programs. "Government programs such as food stamps and unemployment insurance have made significant progress in easing the plight of the poor in the half-century since the launch of the war on poverty, according to a major new study...According to the new research, the safety net helped reduce the percentage of Americans in poverty from 26 percent in 1967 to 16 percent in 2012. The results were especially striking during the most recent economic downturn, when the poverty rate barely budged despite a massive increase in unemployment."Zachary A. Goldfarb in The Washington Post