The Urban Underclass

"surveys the controversies surrounding the emergence of an urban underclass and picks up where Wilson's The Truly Disadvantaged left off. It should be read by anyone searching for an antipoverty agenda for the 1990s." --Sheldon Danziger, The University of Michigan "... some of the best and most up-to-date research and thinking on the topic. Inspired by the earlier writing of Wilson, these authors attempt to put empirical flesh on his more theoretical bones, and move our understanding forward." --Isabel V. Sawhill, The Urban Institute "a welcome addition to research on ghetto poverty and a stimulating discussion of policy alternatives... The book will undoubtedly become the standard reference work for teachers and researchers... " --Lee Rainwater, Harvard University

The essays in this book try to separate the truth about poverty, social dislocation, and changes in America family life from the myths that have become part of contemporary folklore. These essays also show the reasons for poverty among children, demonstrate that the main issue is not so much a growth in the size of the underclass as the persistence of poverty decades after the country thought it had addressed the problem, and they point out the paradox of poverty in a wealthy nation will continue until society makes greater efforts to provide all citizens with improved educational and economic opportunities as well as adequate income maintenance in times of need.