Executive summary
The American Dream is grounded in the idea everyone ought to be able to pursue happiness. That idea has positioned the United States as the land of opportunity and motivated countless millions to move here for over two centuries. Yet it’s under threat: a 2023 survey by The Wall Street Journal and NORC revealed only 36% of voters believe the American Dream still holds true.
With 37.9 million Americans suffering through poverty every day, it’s no surprise this dream looks like a mirage for so many people. That’s especially true in urban environments such as Chicago, where prosperity is simply out of reach for too many individuals. While the overall poverty rate in America is already an unacceptably high 11.5%, the poverty rate in Chicago is worse at 17.2%. That means over 450,000 Chicagoans live with poverty daily. Their unjust situation threatens the American Dream itself.
For far too long, we’ve mistakenly thought poverty’s solution was to spend more money. Nearly 60 years after President Lyndon Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1965, the nation has spent over $12 trillion and poverty rates have remained between 11% and 15%. Chicago’s poverty rate of 17.2% is significantly higher than the 12% rate in 1960.
Poverty policies are not just failing the poor and disadvantaged in Chicago and elsewhere, they are aggravating the problems. That’s wrong, needs to change and can.
Amid the failed policies and unnecessary suffering is reason for tremendous hope we can solve poverty, especially in Chicago and other urban environments.
From left-of-center think tanks such as the Brookings Institution, Urban Institute and Progressive Policy Institute, to right-of-center public policy groups such as the American Enterprise Institute and the Alliance for Opportunity, there exists remarkable consensus on how to empower individuals to rise out poverty and into prosperity.
What is it?
Substantial consensus exists around seven “macro”-solutions to poverty:
- Empower people through the dignity of work.
- Prepare individuals for the future of work through education and workforce development. (This issue is widely overlooked in the research on poverty).
- Remove barriers to work, especially occupational licensing and burdensome regulations.
- Ensure the educational system prepares students for careers through improved quality and more effective workforce development programs such as apprenticeships.
- Restructure safety net programs to empower people to rise out of poverty, including through rigorous program evaluation.
- Promote affordable housing, including through zoning reform.
- Promote family formation and stability, including by making it easier for people to follow the “success sequence” of education, job, marriage and then children.
America needs to rediscover its roots and again become the world’s preeminent opportunity society where everyone can unleash their potential. This report establishes an agenda to empower people to rise out of poverty and into prosperity. If we can set an agenda for accomplishing that in Chicago, then we will have established a formula for doing so elsewhere in America.
Introduction
The American Dream is grounded in the idea that everyone ought to be able to pursue happiness. That idea has positioned the United States as a beacon of hope, freedom and opportunity for over two centuries.
For the 37.9 million Americans[1] in poverty, their potential remains stunted, leaving the individuals and society worse off. So much suffering and discouragement poses a direct threat to the American Dream itself. As people stop believing in it, its meaning and promise fade.
This is especially true in urban areas such as Chicago, where the poverty rate is significantly higher than the national average. While the overall poverty rate in America is already unacceptably…
This article was originally published by a www.illinoispolicy.org . Read the Original article here. .