--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Historically, it has required a…" description: "\"Historically, it has required a combination of favorable employment trends and active government intervention to lower the percentage of people in pove..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c85/stephanie-coontz-3365_government_historically-it-has-required-a-combinati_3183799.png" --- # Historically, it has required a combination of favorable… ![“Historically, it has required a combination of favorable employment trends and active government intervention to lower the percentage of people in poverty and raise living standards for the working middle class.” quote by Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c85/stephanie-coontz-3365_government_historically-it-has-required-a-combinati_3183799.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c85/stephanie-coontz-3365_government_historically-it-has-required-a-combinati_3183799.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c85/stephanie-coontz-3365_government_historically-it-has-required-a-combinati_3183799.png) > “Historically, it has required a combination of favorable employment trends and active government intervention to lower the percentage of people in poverty and raise living standards for the working middle class.” [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Economic progress for the middle class historically needed both market growth and proactive government policies. **In simple terms:** Policy and market together lift living standards. Key Takeaway Support balanced economic policies. Themes economics public policy social equity Mood concerned hopeful Type persuasive informative When to use this quote - urban development - job training programs - social safety nets Key Concepts welfare state labor markets tax policy Questions to Reflect On - What policies best address current poverty? - How can citizens influence policy? A Different Perspective Political opposition can stall reforms. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Government](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) [Government intervention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government-intervention/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Middle class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/middle-class/) [Politics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/politics/) [Poverty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poverty/) ## Related quotes > [I'm not sure there's another way to help move more people out of poverty than to raise the minimum wage.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hickenlooper/i-m-not-sure-there-s-another-way-to-help-move-more-people-out-of/) [John Hickenlooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hickenlooper/) > [ \[A\] family with two kids that earns the minimum wage still lives below the poverty line. That's wrong. That's why, since the last time… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/a-family-with-two-kids-that-earns-the-minimum-wage-still-lives-below/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I believe the quickest and most sure way to reduce poverty, raise living standards and create jobs around the world is to make economies…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-bisnow/i-believe-the-quickest-and-most-sure-way-to-reduce-poverty-raise/) [Elliott Bisnow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-bisnow/) > [For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish ora German girl scrubbing floors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/for-every-nineteenth-century-middle-class-family-that-protected-its/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [How well a posse policy will fare in a world with 3 billion people below the poverty line and nuclear warheads scattered around a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/herbert-schiller/how-well-a-posse-policy-will-fare-in-a-world-with-3-billion-people/) [Herbert Schiller](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/herbert-schiller/) > [We do not wish to impoverish the environment any further, and yet we cannot for a moment forget the grim poverty of large numbers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/indira-gandhi/we-do-not-wish-to-impoverish-the-environment-any-further-and-yet-we/) [Indira Gandhi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/indira-gandhi/) > [There are 4 billion cell phones in use today. Many of them are in the hands of market vendors, rickshaw drivers, and others who've…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/there-are-4-billion-cell-phones-in-use-today-many-of-them-are-in-the/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [And if you look at the reality in the United States, where you have more than 40 million people below the poverty line and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/simon-mainwaring/and-if-you-look-at-the-reality-in-the-united-states-where-you-have/) [Simon Mainwaring](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/simon-mainwaring/) > [Comic Relief funds projects that help lift people out of poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-bishop/comic-relief-funds-projects-that-help-lift-people-out-of-poverty/) [John Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-bishop/) > [We live in a country with a vast majority of people below the poverty line. Our natural resources are limited and getting scarcer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amala-akkineni/we-live-in-a-country-with-a-vast-majority-of-people-below-the-poverty/) [Amala Akkineni](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amala-akkineni/) > [Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong in their seeds. Simply, society never gave them the base to grow on. All it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/muhammad-yunus/poor-people-are-bonsai-people-there-is-nothing-wrong-in-their-seeds/) [Muhammad Yunus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/muhammad-yunus/) > [ If not one more cent in new aid money flowed \[to Africa\], we could with more urgency and efficiency and creativity be doing much… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kumi-naidoo/if-not-one-more-cent-in-new-aid-money-flowed-to-africa-we-could-with/) [Kumi Naidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kumi-naidoo/) > [Simply put, unsustainable debt is helping to keep too many poor countries and poor people in poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-j-clinton/simply-put-unsustainable-debt-is-helping-to-keep-too-many-poor/) [William J. Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-j-clinton/) > [Capitalism - for the record - has lifted more people out of poverty than any other economic system in the world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trish-regan/capitalism-for-the-record-has-lifted-more-people-out-of-poverty-than/) [Trish Regan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trish-regan/) > [Poverty should be one of the top concerns for any elected leader. It has a negative effect on almost everything we as society entrust…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-crumpton/poverty-should-be-one-of-the-top-concerns-for-any-elected-leader-it/) [Ron Crumpton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-crumpton/) ## More by Stephanie Coontz > [As an overly confident college freshman, the first time I received a below-average score on an exam was a needed wake-up call.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/as-an-overly-confident-college-freshman-the-first-time-i-received-a/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [For every nineteenth-century middle-class family that protected its wife and child within the family circle, there was an Irish ora German girl scrubbing floors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/for-every-nineteenth-century-middle-class-family-that-protected-its/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [A primary motivation for introducing no-fault divorce was, in fact, to reduce perjury in the legal system.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/a-primary-motivation-for-introducing-no-fault-divorce-was-in-fact-to/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [Graduating from high school is certainly a good idea, but it's no longer much protection against poverty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/graduating-from-high-school-is-certainly-a-good-idea-but-it-s-no/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [Almost all scholarly research carries practical and political implications. 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Overprotected and overpraised children may develop an inflated sense of entitlement.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/hyper-parenting-has-many-pitfalls-overprotected-and-overpraised/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [Social and economic policies constructed around the male breadwinner model have always disadvantaged women.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/social-and-economic-policies-constructed-around-the-male-breadwinner/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [When I speak on work-family issues to audiences around the country, some of the biggest complaints I hear come from individuals who are described…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/when-i-speak-on-work-family-issues-to-audiences-around-the-country/) [Stephanie Coontz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/) > [Extended families have never been the norm in America; the highest figure for extended-family households ever recorded in Americanhistory is 20 percent. 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He lies well.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/napoleon-bonaparte/he-is-almost-a-statesman-he-lies-well/) [Napoleon Bonaparte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/napoleon-bonaparte/) > [If you believe in democracy, why shouldn't you know what the government is doing?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/if-you-believe-in-democracy-why-shouldn-t-you-know-what-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I mean those people who are interested in good government will certainly contribute in order to make certain there's some counter-balance to those whose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-breyer/i-mean-those-people-who-are-interested-in-good-government-will/) [Stephen Breyer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-breyer/) > [We can't have a government that will collapse in three months.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leo-varadkar/we-can-t-have-a-government-that-will-collapse-in-three-months/) [Leo Varadkar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leo-varadkar/) > [Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between man and his God, that he owes account to none other for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-jefferson/believing-with-you-that-religion-is-a-matter-which-lies-solely/) [Thomas Jefferson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-jefferson/) [Browse all 21,248 Government quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/government/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Historically, it has required a combination of favorable employment trends and active government intervention to lower the percentage of people in poverty and raise living standards for the working middle class.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Stephanie Coontz" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/historically-it-has-required-a-combination-of-favorable-employment/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Government" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/historically-it-has-required-a-combination-of-favorable-employment/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c85/stephanie-coontz-3365_government_historically-it-has-required-a-combinati_3183799.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c85/stephanie-coontz-3365_government_historically-it-has-required-a-combinati_3183799.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c85/stephanie-coontz-3365_government_historically-it-has-required-a-combinati_3183799.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Historically, it has required a combination of favorable employment trends and active government…” — Stephanie Coontz", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Stephanie Coontz", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephanie-coontz/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Historically, it has required a combination...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/historically-it-has-required-a-combination-of-favorable-employment/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephanie-coontz/historically-it-has-required-a-combination-of-favorable-employment/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```