Going Up: National Poverty Rate

Going Up The national poverty rate, 1959-2009 1959 22.4 PERCENT 1969 12.1 PERCENT 1979 11.7 PERCENT Contrary to popular belief, the national poverty rate did decrease during the decade of the War on Poverty and the Great Society. It edged up during the Reagan era, down during the 1990s boom and in 2009 was higher than iť's been since 1994. 1989 12.8 PERCENT 1999 11.9 PERCENT 2009 14.3 PERCENT Source:Census Bureau