In January of 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson declared a "War on Poverty." Over the next several years, the United States launched several programs aimed at drastically reducing the level of poverty throughout the nation. Now fifty years later, we have a number of lessons related to what has and has not worked in the fight against poverty. This book is a collection of chapters by both researchers and practitioners studying and addressing matters of poverty as they intersect with a number of broader social challenges such as health care, education, and criminal justice issues. The War on Poverty: A Retrospective serves as a collection of many of their observations, thoughts, and findings. Ultimately, the authors reflect on some of the lessons of the past fifty years and ask basic questions about poverty and its continued impact on American society, as well as how we might continue to address the challenges that poverty presents for our nation.
