Drawing on evidence from Irish national household surveys in 1987 and 1994 and Census of Population data from 1986 and 1991, this study attempts to answer these questions. It examines the underlying assumptions regarding the way in which household and spatial factors combine to create patterns of cumulative disadvantage. It explores what types of areas have particularly high rates of poverty, the extent to which people living in poverty or who are disadvantaged are concentrated in particular areas and whether such patterns have changed over time. The study makes an important contribution to the understanding of the spatial dimensions of poverty and disadvantage. It is particularly relevant in the context of the National Anti-Poverty Strategy, the national emphasis on area-based strategies to tackle unemployment and disadvantage and the reform of local government.

The strengths and abilities children develop from infancy through adolescence are crucial for their physical, emotional, and cognitive growth, which in turn help them to achieve success in school and to become responsible, economically self-sufficient, and healthy adults. Capable, responsible, and healthy adults are clearly the foundation of a well-functioning and prosperous society, yet America's future is not as secure as it could be because millions of American children live in families with incomes below the poverty line. A wealth of evidence suggests that a lack of adequate economic resources for families with children compromises these children's ability to grow and achieve adult success, hurting them and the broader society. A Roadmap to Reducing Child Poverty reviews the research on linkages between child poverty and child well-being, and analyzes the poverty-reducing effects of major assistance programs directed at children and families. This report also provides policy and program recommendations for reducing the number of children living in poverty in the United States by half within 10 years.

The world of welfare has changed radically. As the poor trade welfare checks for low-wage jobs, their low earnings qualify them for a hefty check come tax time—a combination of the earned income tax credit and other refunds. For many working parents this one check is like hitting the lottery, offering several months’ wages as well as the hope of investing in a better future. Drawing on interviews with 115 families, the authors look at how parents plan to use this annual cash windfall to build up savings, go back to school, and send their kids to college. However, these dreams of upward mobility are often dashed by the difficulty of trying to get by on meager wages. In accessible and engaging prose, It’s Not Like I’m Poor examines the costs and benefits of the new work-based safety net, suggesting ways to augment its strengths so that more of the working poor can realize the promise of a middle-class life.

Accessible and edited by authors based at a top institution, this book provides readers with an excellent summary in an easy-to-read style of this burgeoning field of research. In this volume Bennett, Gilson and Mills have gathered together essays written by academics and experts in the fields of health policy and economic development, each underscoring the need for political commitment to meet the needs of the poor and the development of strategies to build this commitment, covering: evidence regarding the links between health, economic development and household poverty evidence on the extent to which health care systems address the needs of the poor and the near poor innovative measures to make health care interventions widely available to the poor. Current and topical, this book is of great relevance to policy makers and practitioners in the field of international health and development and researchers engaged with global health and poverty as well as being ideal reading for students of international health and development.

The story of a kind of poverty in America so deep that we, as a country, don't even think exists--from a leading national poverty expert who "defies convention" (New York Times)

"Harrell Rodgers carefully analyzed the data on the changing profile of poverty families since 1959 and provides a clear view of the facts of poverty among women. He discusses the underlying causes for the dramatic increase in female-headed households, the major causes of poverty in families headed by women, and the governmental interventions intended to alleviate poverty in such families"--Excerpt from back cover.