Karen Tang
JFK’S SOCIAL POLICIES
 Did little about the poor in his first years of
administration
 Inherited an era of wealth and growth, but
many Americans still lived in poverty
 Only after reading Harrington’s The Other
America,
 40 million Americans living in poverty
 Senate report in 1960 estimated that 8 million
had annual incomes less that $1000
 1959 estimated that average rural wage was
$0.5 an hour
 Manpower Development and Training Act
1962
 $435 million for school and job based training esp.
for those in automation who had lost their jobs
 200K went though the schemes
 Proposed $2 billion public works to Congress,
but was rejected
area redevelopment act 1961
 addresses the issue of jobs and
unemployment
 Gave grants and loans for training ,
development, community facilities, help to
depressed areas (i.e. Appalachia)
Housing act 1961
 Housing Act: helped property developers
more than the poor
 Provides $4.88 billion in loans and grants to
cities, towns and rural areas for urban
renewal, public housing, elderly housing, farm
housing, college housing, community
facilities, development of "open space" in
cities, mass transportation, home
improvement, housing for moderate-income
families
Equal pay act 1963
 Did not cover all woman, no powers of
enforcement, but 171K women benefited
 Passed Congress without much opposition
Less Successful Policies
 Not as successful policies: healthcare and
education
 JFK proposed a healthcare scheme funded by
payroll tax, rejected like it was 15 years ago
Healthcare
 Focus on the elderly
 Affected by popular pressure
 The Kennedy administration encouraged a
growing popular campaign organized by the
senior citizens
Education
 1961 education proposals passed by Senate,
failed to get through the House
 Proposed to give federal money to states for
scholarships and buildings, depending on the
wealth of the state
 Higher Education Facilities Act passed in 1963,
gave $145 million grants for graduate schools
in Science, language and engineering