ABSTRACT
The notion that poverty in America has been abolished, for all practical purposes, has by now acquired the status of a new myth–one with profound implications for social policy. The myth of the "abolition of poverty" is appealing in an age of slow economic growth and tight budgets. The basic premise of those who argue that poverty has been "abolished" is that "the growth of jobs and income in the private economy" has been a main force in reducing poverty to "minor" proportions. The Council decided to prepare an expanded and updated analysis of the myths and realities of poverty, which considers new information and the most recent available statistics. The resistance of Northern poverty is closely bound up with the greater intractability of urban poverty in general. A poverty threshold based only on the overall cost of living therefore understates the real income needs and hardships of the disadvantaged.
