When you define poverty as anyone in the bottom let's say 5% of the national income you define it in a way that cannot be eliminated no matter how wealthy the nation as a whole becomes. Very few people live in poverty in any meaningful sense
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I don't know much at all about America, but welfare in the UK has produced generations of state-dependent families with few prospects. That's not to say welfare isn't desirable in some form but it hasn't worked here
Well, it depends how you look at it. If different social initiatives had been taken those same people might be working, not in poverty. In many cases welfare only gives sufficient material base for people to live out meaningless lives
