May 22 was the 60th anniversary of former President Lyndon B. Johnson’s “Great Society” speech. As I read the speech, I was disheartened by how much his remarks address many of today’s challenges. Johnson said:
The Great Society rests on abundance and liberty for all. It demands an end to poverty and racial injustice, to which we are totally committed in our time. But that is just the beginning.
End to Poverty
In the 60 years since Johnson’s speech, female-headed households have made little progress. Table 1 shows that 23 percent of female-headed households were below the poverty line in 2022, down from 36.4 percent in 1964. The progress is more dismal for female-headed households with children. In 1964, 50 percent of female-headed households with children lived below the poverty line. The percentage for these families was 32 percent in 2022.
At a recent leadership workshop for grantees of the Family Economic Mobility initiative (Share Our Strength), we discussed the causes of persistent poverty. These causes included equal pay for women, benefits cliffs, affordable childcare, and the tax structure—the usual suspects. Despite the diversity of organizations in attendance, political will was a recurrent theme for persistent poverty and racial injustice. The discussion was a reminder that all 435 House of Representative seats are up for election this November.
Table 1. Families with a Female Householder, No Spouse Present (percent)
Source: Table 4. Poverty Status of Families by Type of Family, Presence of Related Children, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1959 to 2022; U.S. Census Bureau, Current Population Survey, 1960 to 2023 Annual Social and Economic Supplements (CPS ASEC).
I Am the Boss
Johnson’s speech offers the following:
The challenge of the next half century is whether we have the wisdom to use that wealth to enrich and elevate our national life, and to advance the quality of our American civilization.
Racial wealth inequality is a growing concern. One solution offered to reduce wealth inequality is entrepreneurship. This summer, our research assistant is Daniya Edmond, a senior economics major at Spelman College and a Center for Black Entrepreneurship Fellow. She will continu
e research from her independent study, which focuses on women and self-employment.
“Seeing women thrive in the entrepreneurial world has inspired me
to pursue my entrepreneurial journey,” she says. “I am eager to gather and analyze data and create resources to help develop supportive policies for the side hustlers and solopreneurs.”
