Introduction
Like Franklin Roosevelt's Lyndon Johnson had a dream of assisting improve the lives of poor Americans. In two varying historical periods, the two administration shaped social welfare through their program. The programs almost have similar objectives. To aid the poorest Americans and improve their living quality by transforming the federal government's role versus the statement government. Nonetheless, their magnitude of helping the poorest differed. The New Deal was formulated to react to the Great Depression. The Great Society used an approach more inclined towards elevating the prosperity of the United States Johnson's Great Society. Therefore, the New Deal dealt with poverty and Unemployment at a more resonant length by implanting several anti-poverty standards. Simultaneously, a higher standard for American people through the establishment of Medicare and enrolled to offer low-cost housing and economic assistance to the nation's urban low regions.
The New Deal created several programs that formulated a long-lasting positive impact on the U.S. economy that was flagging all through 1930. Key programs of the new Deal comprise a package of social programs that include low relief and insurance. Concerning poor relief, also known as the welfare of public assistance integrated child welfare and maternal health programs in Title V of the act and public health programs in Title VI of the legislation
The children's interest benefitted children directly by the WPA school lunch program. WPA gave half a million lunches daily in 10 0000 schools in the entire country(Stabile, 1235-1240).
The change put in place by the New Deal entails encouraging the commencing of the labor movements that reinforced wage growth. The social program Act integrated the act for old-age pensions and unemployment insurance, commonly known as Social Security, in terms of the insurance. The administration of Roosevelt implemented the Social Security act that included some federal low relief programs such as Aid to the Blind, Old Age Assistance, and Aid to Dependent Children (ADC). The formation of the social security programs ensured that they could be no other occurrence, such as the Great Depression. Equally, the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 created the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that effectively insured Americans' savings in the event of a bank failure, that a common norm during the Great Depression. These programs reduced the poverty index in America because, without Social Security, an extra 8.3% of Americans or above 25 million individuals would have fallen below the SPM poverty mark (Stabile, 205-211).
On the other side, the great Society engaged less in anti-poverty programs since the 1960s was a much more economically healthy period overall than the 1930s. Some of the introduced programs include Medicare and Medicaid, which were implemented to cater to hospital and consultancy fees for the senior people who qualified for Medicare Medicaid. Besides, they served as safety nets for citizens who are categorized as the most vulnerable. Moreover, in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was implemented. The act ushered in a new era where federal funding was present for education in school districts whose students mostly from financially unable homes. All these programs confirm that the great Society aimed not to alleviate massive suffering across all sectors but rather to bring the affluence that white, middle-class Americans enjoyed to the U.S.'s low pockets in rural areas (like Appalachia) and the inner cities.
Nonetheless, the New Deal facilitated in the course of ending racism among American citizens in several ways. First, racism was witnessed in one of the programs that aimed to reduce Unemployment among youths. Although, children of color encountered discriminations that dislocated the promise of equality. Equally, on top of the imbalance of job opportunities, only a few African Americans managed to climb the CCC's administration levels because of the unfriendly environment that saturated the chain in command due to Fechner's unfair belief (Gould, 20).
Second, according to Richard Rothstein, the New Deal had an unequivocal policy of not covering suburban mortgages of the people of color in its Federal Housing Administration program introduced in 1934 by Congress. Their Whites counterparts could only purchase suburban houses with no or small down payments and a prolonged 30-years amortization routine. Their monthly charges were frequently less than the household had formerly paid to house bodies or private proprietors (Michney & Winling., 152-165).
Finally, following the incidence of 1936, almost 75 percent of the people of color voted for the Democrats, the New Deal was utilized to discourage civil rights, the administration continuously capitulated to discrimination and prejudice to implement major New Deal legislation, President Franklin required the support of the Southern Democrats. Most states in the U.S. deprived voting rights to people of color. They utilized their political authority to reduce the status of Blacks further and limited their benefits and chances in society. This made them potential victims of lynching. The president has been working through Powerful Southern Congresspeople and failed to place civil rights as one of his key agendas (Fishback, 1435-50).
As much as it can be evident that the New Deal engaged in racism acts, it tried to resolve unemployment through successfully initiating projects such as Work progress Administrations that employed over eight million individuals from 1935-1943. The objective of the WPA was to offer people jobs until the economy stabilizes. Under, the WPA several buildings, roads, hospitals, schools, and other public works were established. Through such projects, most Americans earned a living wage and self-respect, as they were capable of catering to their family needs during difficult periods because of the New Deal.
In addition, Fishback claimed that the New Deal implemented the National Industrial Recovery Act (1933) (1445-50). This act was formulated to encourage coping with the Great Depression, to facilitate national industrial recovery to reinforce fair competition. Title II, under the act, brought many contributions to the recovery of the economy since it funded several infrastructures and created job opportunities, while Title I was the least successful. However, it demonstrated the New Deal's readiness to engage different policies to overcome unemployment and poverty.
The Great Society ventured into programs such as Volunteers in Service of America(VISTA), which targeted at addressing lack of quality housing, illiteracy, and poor economic development to combat poverty(Stabile, 232-235). This shows the Great Society prioritizes improving the American population's social standards more than anything else.
Another program that showed the Great Society was after enhancing the citizen's welfare rather than ending poverty was Job Corps. According to Stabile, Job Corps was a program funded by Congress and administered by the U.S Department of labor; Job Corps aims at teaching young individuals the academic and vocational knowledge needed to secure meaningful employment (230-240).
Conclusion
Both the Great and the New Deal implemented programs and Acts to support the fight against poverty and unemployment; however, their magnitude and nature of programs and policies varied due to the nature recovery system that each historic period desired. The New Deal was formulated to combat the continuity of the Great Depression. Simultaneously, the Great Society played the role of reinforcing measures formerly taken by the New Deal, hence ending up targeting to improve American citizens' lives. The New Deal was more effective in fighting against unemployment and poverty, as it never ended the Great Depression.
