we have a moral obligation to break the mold. rethink the status quo and do a better job for vulnerable families and those individuals in this country. so where do we stand in the war on poverty right now? the latest numbers from the census bureau show 15% of all americans still live below the poverty line. despite that, the ranks of the poor have actually grown from 36 million in 1964 to more than 46 million in 2012. the number of african-americans below the poverty line has been slashed from nearly 42% in 1966 but still sits at more than 27% thanks to medicaid, medicare, americans over 65 have seen their poverty rate plummet. for more than 28% down to 9%. for kids under 18, from 17.6% to nearly 22% since the war on poverty was declared.
americans over 65 have seen their poverty rate plummet from more than 28% at that time down to just 9% today. for kids under 18, the rate has grown from 17.6% to nearly 22%. and for people 18 to 64, the rate has jumped more than three points. that s despite the fact that the money spent on government assistance has skyrocketed. more than half of the budget in to 12 went to social security, medicare, medicaid, children s health insurance or other safety net programs. a little under $2 trillion. roughly 50 times the amount that the federal government spent on social welfare programs in 1965. bob her vert is a distinguished senior fellow at demos and spent years reporting on urban affairs and social friends. annie lowry is the economic reporter for the new york times. annie, let me start with you. anniversaries have a way of sort of sparking a conversation. then the anniversaries go away and the debate about the issue of what to do goes away.
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issue, and it s going to see how this contract is enforced. it s not a done deal just yet. while teachers are heading back to work they must still vote on the contract. we have reviewed it. we will have the opportunity to vote on it. but right now it is in the best interest of everyone to return to work. and teachers will end up voting on this contract within the next couple of weeks. back to you. this strike affected 350 thousand students. thank goodness they re back. can you imagine the scheduling, nightmare it was for parents too? i really can t imagine it, having two children myself. it is interesting because the contract offer gives teachers on average about 17.6% of a pay raise over the next four years, as well as retaining other salary bumps for experience and pursuing a graduate degree. so that, really, i think is a win for teachers because as we know, such an important job and many teachers are so underpaid. and still has not officially been ratified. let s hope it
and it s not a done deal just yet. while teachers are heading back to work, they must still vote on the contract. we have reviewed it. we will have the opportunity to vote on it. but right now it is in the best interest of everyone to return to work. and teachers will end up voting on this contract within the next couple of weeks. back to you. this strike affected 350,000 students. thank goodness they re back. can you imagine the scheduling, nightmare it was for parents too? i really can t imagine it, having two children myself. it is interesting because the contract offer gives teachers on average about 17.6% of a pay raise over the next four years, as well as retaining other salary bumps for experience and pursuing a graduate degree. so that, really, i think, is a win for teachers because as we know, such an important job, and so many teachers are so underpaid. and it still has not officially been ratified. let s hope it is. that s right. that s right. let s hope. wel