ImDrovine the Status of the Aged

POVERTY, OF COURSE, is an ancient enemy of mankind. But this generation is distinguished from past generations in that it is committed to conquering the enemy, not coexisting with it. The American people have assumed the responsibility for wiping out this social illness. In a nation where the gross national product has been moving upward at a rate of $35 to $50 billion dollars a year and is expected to exceed $1,000 billion within the next several years, the economic capacity to cope with the problem successfully does exist. The war on poverty can be won if we accelerate the efforts already begun. Since 1930, the extent of poverty has been reduced from more than 40 percent of our population t’o less than 20 percent. By the midsevent,ies this figure can be brought down to 10 percent and within the following decade we can, if we make plans now, virtually eliminate poverty. Whatever we do to accomplish this goal will improve the status of the aged population generally since about 16 percent of the poor are the aged. To make progress toward this goal we must plan for the proper mobilization and use of our resources and we must continually evaluate and reevaluate the effectiveness of our allocation of these resources.