Editing Reaganomics (section)

===Poverty level===
The percentage of the total population below the poverty level increased from 13.0% in 1980 to 15.2% in 1983, then declined back to 13.0% in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-people/?sec_ak_reference=18.577f1cb8.1513195579.2f88|title=Index of /programs-surveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-people|website=www2.census.gov|access-date=June 12, 2018|archive-date=June 12, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612143043/https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/cps/tables/time-series/historical-poverty-people/?sec_ak_reference=18.577f1cb8.1513195579.2f88|url-status=live}}</ref> During Reagan's first term, critics noted [[Homelessness in the United States|homelessness]] as a visible problem in U.S. urban centers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/07/29/reagan-welfare-cuts-found-to-worsen-families-poverty/077278f9-a875-4791-9c34-d1cf3cd148b5/|title=Reagan Welfare Cuts Found To Worsen Families' Poverty|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=March 10, 2024|archive-date=December 9, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221209165011/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1984/07/29/reagan-welfare-cuts-found-to-worsen-families-poverty/077278f9-a875-4791-9c34-d1cf3cd148b5/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/135/reagan.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041027055709/http://www.nhi.org/online/issues/135/reagan.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=October 27, 2004 |title=Reagan's Legacy: Homelessness in America |author=Peter Dreier |year=2004 |publisher=National Housing Institute |access-date=April 29, 2011 }}</ref> According to [[Don Mitchell (geographer)|Don Mitchell]], the increased cuts to spending on housing and social services under Reagan was a contributing factor to the homeless population nearly doubling in just three years, from 1984 to 1987.<ref>{{cite news|last=Kirk|first=Mimi|date=May 13, 2020|title=How the Streets Got So Mean|url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-13/what-causes-homelessness-start-with-capitalism|work=Bloomberg|location=|access-date=July 14, 2023|archive-date=April 15, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230415194420/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-05-13/what-causes-homelessness-start-with-capitalism|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Mitchell|first=Don|author-link=Don Mitchell (geographer)|date=2020|title=Mean Streets: Homelessness, Public Space, and the Limits of Capital|url=https://ugapress.org/book/9780820356907/mean-streets/|location=|publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]]|page=62|isbn=9-780-8203-5690-7|access-date=July 14, 2023|archive-date=July 13, 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230713191327/https://ugapress.org/book/9780820356907/mean-streets/|url-status=live}}</ref> In the closing weeks of his presidency, Reagan told [[David Brinkley]] that the homeless "make it their own choice for staying out there," noting his belief that there "are shelters in virtually every city, and shelters here, and those people still prefer out there on the grates or the lawn to going into one of those shelters". He also stated that "a large proportion" of them are "mentally impaired", which he believed to be a result of lawsuits by the [[ACLU]] (and similar organizations) against mental institutions.<ref name="New York Times">{{cite news |title=Reagan on Homelessness: Many Choose to Live in the Streets |author=Steven V. Roberts |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/23/us/reagan-on-homelessness-many-choose-to-live-in-the-streets.html |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 23, 1988 |access-date=January 4, 2012 |archive-date=January 26, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180126185038/http://www.nytimes.com/1988/12/23/us/reagan-on-homelessness-many-choose-to-live-in-the-streets.html |url-status=live }}</ref>