"Count the food stamps. Poverty fell 30 percent." Sticker

The official poverty rate only counts cash income, so it excludes food stamps, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child Tax Credit, and housing aid, the exact programs the War on Poverty and its successors built. Counting those benefits, the Supplemental Poverty Measure fell from 18.5 percent in 1967 to 12.9 percent in 2024, a 30 percent decline, and by 61 percent under a poverty line held to 2012 living standards. Without any taxes or transfers, researchers estimate 2024 poverty would have been 23.7 percent, higher than the 21.9 percent the same calculation gives for 1967. The sticker says "Count the food stamps. Poverty fell 30 percent." and carries the address of the War on Poverty page on this site, where the claim sits with its evidence, the best case against it, and the answer. It is sized for a laptop lid or a water bottle. Print partner and vinyl stock stay pending until a physical sample has been checked.

What War on Poverty means