1960s Economy

Economic Impact of the 1960s According to the United States Census, the poverty rate in 2014 was at 14.8 percent (Poverty). In 1963 when president Johnson came into office poverty levels were at 19.5 percent and by 1968 poverty levels decreased to 12.8 percent(Higgs). When Johnson first became president inflation was at around two percent (Higgs). During Lyndon B Johnson’s (JBJ) presidency his goal was to alleviate poverty, so he created the Great Society. A society where people could have more opportunities and have a better quality of life. LBJ’s Great Society programs such as the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, Medicaid and Medicare and Project Head Start got U.S out of a recession and decreased the number of people in poverty from

Not only was there one billion dollars funded, two other programs were also created; VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and the Job Corps Youth Training Program. VISTA goal was to help poor urban and rural areas and still continues to do so today (Mcdougal). In the past there were many jobs where high level skills were not necessarily required, however, by the 1960s those jobs were uncommon and skills were a demand, so the Job Corps Youth Training Program became very beneficial. The Job Corps Youth Training Program provides work clothes and job training to teenagers and young adults. “The act was created to try to get people the tools to get out of poverty”(PBS) . This program allowed more people the opportunity to obtain training to enable them to work and receive a paycheck, essentially decreasing unemployment and poverty. Not only did Johnson try to give everyone the possibility of working, he also created Medicaid and Medicare in the health industry to further help

Project Head Start’s major purpose was to prepare children for success in school. It was created to “help communities overcome the barriers of young children living in poverty” (Head Start). Specifically the project enabled preschoolers in poor families to get a better education (Mcdougal). The program allowed students to receive the necessary materials & obtain the skills that are needed in adulthood (Ross). When Project Head Start was created in the summer of 1965 and helped over 560,000 children in as little as eight weeks. Due to the significant amount of children Project Head Start benefited, it became a year round project after the summer trial (Ross). Although it had its benefits, research and results from the program indicated that some of the skills obtained could disappear years later. The research also stated that students who were in the project were held back less in primary