Merriam-Webster defines poverty as ‘the state of being poor.’ While this definition seems simple enough, defining poverty as it applies to our world in 2015 is not quite so cut and dry.

A recent op-ed in the New York Times examines this idea of whether the poor are actually getting poorer and just how poor the poor are these days. Doing this requires that one look not just as median household incomes, welfare programs, or employment numbers, but rather consider what ‘poor’ means based on the standard of living that is expected today, which is much different than it was in, say, 1960, due to advancements in technology and change in economy.

Has the war on poverty been won or lost? Are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? What needs to be factored in when considering what ‘poverty’ means to us today?

Guests:

Gary Burtless, Ph.D., John C. and Nancy D. whitehead Chair in Economic Studies at the Brookings Institution.

Robert Rector, Senior Research Fellow at the DeVos Center for Religion and Civil Society Domestic Policy Studies at the Heritage Foundation.

Shawn Fremstad, senior fellow at the Center for American Progress.