ABSTRACT
Poverty permeates the Lower Rio Grande Valley. The Bureau of Labor Statistics is responsible for constructing the Consumer Price Index. Naturally they began defining the poverty line as well. The poverty line was adjusted annually based on changes in the cost of its food basket up until 1969. Public policy will only be effective in combating poverty if we have a clear characterization of just who the poor actually are. This problem is particularly acute in the colonias that have sprouted up on both sides of the Mexico-Texas border. The working poor constitute another major group in poverty. Most of those employed in maquiladoras in northern Mexico and many illegals working as laborers in south Texas fall into this category. The War on Poverty was formally declared in 1964 in the form of the Economic Opportunity Act. A 1990 study provided time series evidence on the correlation between federal income programs and the level of poverty.
