I work for a major ministry that works to combat poverty world wide. There have been quite a few jokes about poverty on this particular forum that are not funny. We can blame the parents (and they should be held accountable), but the kids are really suffering. The biggest thing these kids are suffering from is a lack of spiritual guidance and training. John Adams said our form of government would only work with a moral and religious people. The next generation as a whole lacks any semblance of these traits. As the Apostle Paul said, God will not be mocked, we will reap what we have sown.
Poverty in the USA will get much worse over the next century and it has nothing to do with the economy. The nexus of a pornographic culture, single parenting, rampant drug use, empahisis on entertainment, a horrible education system, etc, will keep poverty growing. When I look at what is happening in Britain and the feral society that is growing up there and realize we are just 15 years behind them, I shutter for western civilization.