In my estimation, based upon personal experience and general knowledge, it would cost about $35,000 to $50,000 per year for 1.5 to 2 years to take a family at or near the bottom of the socio-economic pyramid and raise them up to the status of middle class. It would only work through a program of concentrated education, counseling and training. The family would only be benefited through the application of this program to the primary income earner coordinated by a dedicated "manager". At the end of the program, followup counseling would be needed to insure the permanence of the results. Money management, savings, investment, tax management, bill paying and new social and community skills would be required. A separation from the negative influences of the past, perhaps in the form of a move to a "new life" might be needed as well. In the aftermath, that family would go from being a net negative economic producer to a net positive one. Assuming that prior to the program the family was living on a per capita income of $5,000 per year ($25,000 for a family of 4) and that after the program the family was living on $50,000, it would represent a net immediate gain of $125,000 over a period of 10 years. ($25,000 per year of additional spending per family for 10 years = $250,000 minus $100,000 program cost plus interest on the invested capital). There would be a number of collateral benefits such as the increase in the available domestic workforce of trained, semi-skilled workers to business and industry and the quality and productivity of those workers, the reduction of potential future crime resulting from the socio-economic dislocation associated with poverty, a reduction is drug use, domestic violence and the drain that these factors have upon the public sector. If just 1 million qualified families where put through such a program annually, the cost would be $35 to 50 billion dollars per year for a period of 10 years over which time, for a public investment of $250 to $500 billion dollars poverty would be virtually eliminated and a long period of economic growth would be initiated as a result of the effect upon the consumer-based economy. 5 to 10 million families representing the bottom 15 to 20% of the current socio-economic pyramid would be made a productive and growth oriented base of support for the future of america. Social injustice would be drastically reduced. Interesting thought, no?