75 years after the Beveridge Report: The shocking extent of hardship in the UK Right now in the UK, 13 million people live in poverty; one in five children subsist below the poverty line. Figures such as these suggest devastating repercussions for health, education and life expectancy. The new poor, however, is an even larger group than these official statistics suggest, and its conditions are something new to our era. More often than not, these people are the working poor, living precariously and betrayed by austerity. In The New Poverty, Stephen Armstrong tells the stories of the most vulnerable in British society. He explores an unreported country, abandoned by politicians and stranded as the welfare state has shrunk. Furthermore, as benefit cuts continue into 2018 and beyond, Armstrong asks what will be the long-term impact of Brexit and—on the anniversary of the Beveridge Report—what we can do to keep the giants of indigence at bay.

Stock market euphoria and blind faith in the post cold war economy have driven the topic of poverty from popular and scholarly discussion in the United States. At the same time the gap between the rich and poor has never been wider. The New Poverty Studies critically examines the new war against the poor that has accompanied the rise of the New Economy in the past two decades, and details the myriad ways poor people have struggled against it. The essays collected here explore how global, national, and local structures of power produce poverty and affect the material well-being, social relations and politicization of the poor. In updating the 1960s encounter between ethnography and U.S. poverty, The New Poverty Studies highlights the ways poverty is constructed across multiple scales and multiple axes of difference. Questioning the common wisdom that poverty persists because of the pathology, social isolation and welfare state "dependency" of the poor, the contributors to The New Poverty Studies point instead to economic restructuring and neoliberal policy "reforms" which have caused increased social inequality and economic polarization in the U.S. Contributors include: Georges Fouron, Donna Goldstein, Judith Goode, Susan B. Hyatt, Catherine Kingfisher, Peter Kwong, Vin Lyon-Callo, Jeff Maskovsky, Sandi Morgen, Leith Mullings, Frances Fox Piven, Matthew Rubin, Nina Glick Schiller, Carol Stack, Jill Weigt, Eve Weinbaum, Brett Williams, and Patricia Zavella. "These contributions provide a dynamic understanding of poverty and immiseration" —North American Dialogue, Vol. 4, No. 1, Nov. 2001

In A People's History of Poverty in America, political scientist Stephen Pimpare brings the human lives and real-life stories of those who struggle with poverty in America to the foreground, vividly describing life as poor and welfare-reliant Americans experience it, from the big city to the rural countryside. Prodigiously researched, A People's History of Poverty in America unearths rich, poignant, and often surprising testimonies—both heart-wrenching and humorous—that range from the early days of the United States to the present day. Pimpare shows us how the poor have found food, secured shelter, and created community, and, most important, he illuminates their battles for dignity and respect in the face of the judgment, control, and disdain that are all too often the price they must pay for charity and government aid. In telling these hidden stories, Pimpare argues eloquently for a fundamental rethinking of poverty, one that includes both a more nuanced understanding of the history of the American welfare state, and a meaningful—and truly accurate—new definition of the poverty line. Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as an “illuminating history of America's poor” and a “useful counter against those who blame the poor for their bad luck,” A People's History of Poverty in America reminds us that poverty is not in itself a moral failure, but our failure to understand it may well be.

A controversial look at how the failure of most of the poor to work at all has transformed American politics, by a New York University political scientist who is a leading advocate of workfare programs.

Everyone has an explanation for poverty. The poor lack personal responsibility. There aren't enough jobs. The stresses of poverty keep people poor. Poor people have a "culture of poverty." The debate among these different explanations has gone on for centuries without meaningfully improving our understanding of the issue.We choose one of these views largely based on the experiences of our own lives, and on those of our families. By looking at why we each choose one of these views over the others, Eric Meade reveals what is valid in each of these views. He then combines them to create a more coherent explanation that can deepen our understanding of poverty and stimulate wiser action to reduce it.Praise for REFRAMING POVERTY: "In this eloquently crafted and persuasively argued book, Meade makes the counter-intuitive claim that we can't address poverty mainly by using microscopes to examine ever more minutely the lives of people who are poor. Rather, we need to use mirrors to examine the hearts and minds of those of us who aren't. Interweaving compelling stories with incisive analysis, Meade makes a convincing and ultimately transformative case. Fair warning: if you are not poor, you will come away with a deep sense of humility toward your own good fortune, but also with a deep sense of responsibility for those who languish in poverty."--Galen Guengerich, Senior Minister, All Souls Unitarian Church, New York City"Meade brings his broad perspective and genuine curiosity to this important exploration of poverty. He reminds us that we are all connected to poverty in some way. By validating the wide range of emotions poverty evokes in all of us, Meade breathes humanity into this discourse. A compelling treatise on a critical global issue."--Sanjay Pradhan, CEO, Open Government Partnership"A refreshing discourse on poverty ... As an expert in human-centered design, I was struck by Meade's emotional definition of poverty and by how he encourages the reader, through real-world examples, to explore how their personal experience influences their understanding of poverty."--Michelle Risinger, Innovation Director, Pac

The contributors to this collection examine the progress and impact of the 'new poverty strategies' which have governed the policies of development agencies over the past decade. While in some areas progress has been impressive, in others it has been hampered by persisting inequalities, civil conflict, institutional gaps and turbulence in the international financial system. In light of this, The New Poverty Strategies proposes a range of new policies and donor initiatives designed to achieve greater success in poverty reduction in the new century.

Stock market euphoria and blind faith in the post cold war economy have driven the topic of poverty from popular and scholarly discussion in the United States. At the same time the gap between the rich and poor has never been wider. The New Poverty Studies critically examines the new war against the poor that has accompanied the rise of the New Economy in the past two decades, and details the myriad ways poor people have struggled against it. The essays collected here explore how global, national, and local structures of power produce poverty and affect the material well-being, social relations and politicization of the poor. In updating the 1960s encounter between ethnography and U.S. poverty, The New Poverty Studies highlights the ways poverty is constructed across multiple scales and multiple axes of difference. Questioning the common wisdom that poverty persists because of the pathology, social isolation and welfare state "dependency" of the poor, the contributors to The New Poverty Studies point instead to economic restructuring and neoliberal policy "reforms" which have caused increased social inequality and economic polarization in the U.S. Contributors include: Georges Fouron, Donna Goldstein, Judith Goode, Susan B. Hyatt, Catherine Kingfisher, Peter Kwong, Vin Lyon-Callo, Jeff Maskovsky, Sandi Morgen, Leith Mullings, Frances Fox Piven, Matthew Rubin, Nina Glick Schiller, Carol Stack, Jill Weigt, Eve Weinbaum, Brett Williams, and Patricia Zavella. "These contributions provide a dynamic understanding of poverty and immiseration" —North American Dialogue, Vol. 4, No. 1, Nov. 2001