Ending Poverty in America

by Edwards, John

• ISBN13: 9781595581761
• ISBN10: 1595581766
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-04-01
• Publisher: New Pr

Summary

John Edwards puts a seminal issue back on the map, presenting blueprints for ending poverty in America. ""This is one of the great moral issues of our time. The day after Katrina hit, new government statistics showed that 37 million Americans live in poverty, up for the fourth year in a row.""--Senator John Edwards Is poverty a fact of life? Can the wealthiest nation in the world do nothing to combat the steadily rising numbers of Americans living in poverty--or the 50 million Americans living in "near poverty"? Senator John Edwards and some of the country's most prominent scholars, businesspeople, and community activists say otherwise. Published in conjunction with one of the country's leading anti-poverty centers, "Ending Poverty in America" brings together some of America's most respected social scientists, including William Julius Wilson, Katherine S. Newman, and Richard B. Freeman, alongside journalists, neighborhood organizers, and business leaders. The voices heard here are both liberal and conservative, and tackle hot-button issues such as job creation, schools, housing, and family-friendly social policy. The contributors explain why poverty is growing and outline concrete steps that can be taken now to start turning the tide. In a political landscape seemingly bereft of daring and forward-thinking ideas, this new book lays out a path toward eliminating poverty in America--a template for a renewed public debate for an issue of intense urgency. Contributors include: Jared Bernstein, Anita Brown-Graham, Carol Mendez Cassell, Richard Freeman, Angela Glover-Blackwell, Jacob Hacker, Harry Holzer, Jack Kemp, Glenn Loury, Ron Mincy, Katherine S. Newman, MelvinOliver, Dennis Orthner, David Shipler, Beth Shulman, Michael Stegman, Elizabeth Warren, William Julius Wilson.

Table of Contents

Confronting poverty and declining opportunity
Connecting the dots	p. 13
Economic mobility in the United States : how much is there and why does it matter?	p. 23
The vanishing middle class	p. 38
The forces undermining the American dream
The great doubling : the challenge of the new global labor market	p. 55
The risky outlook for middle-class America	p. 66
Single mothers, fragile families	p. 77
A new agenda for America's ghetto poor	p. 88
Spurring better jobs and creating higher incomes
Up and out : when the working poor are poor no more	p. 101
The earned income tax credit	p. 107
Making work pay	p. 114
Education and training for less affluent Americans in the new economy	p. 125
Jobs for life	p. 131
Sharing the prosperity through asset building
Reducing wealth disparities through asset ownership	p. 139
Banking the poor : overcoming the financial services mismatch	p. 144
Assets for all : toward universal, progressive, lifelong accounts	p. 151
Making saving easier : the automatic 401(k) and automatic individual retirement account (IRA)	p. 158
An affordable homeownership strategy that promotes savings rather than risk	p. 165
Making homeownership a reality by believing in working-class families	p. 174
The role of the entrepreneur in combating poverty	p. 179
Strengthening family and community
Why we should be concerned about young, less educated, black men	p. 191
A hopeful future : the pathway to helping teens avoid pregnancy and too-soon parenthood	p. 205
Public schools : building capacity for hope and opportunity	p. 218
Getting parents and community into the school reform act	p. 224
Top-down meets bottom-up : local job creation in rural America	p. 230
Strengthening the rural community	p. 235
Fighting poverty with equitable development	p. 244
Conclusion : ending poverty in America	p. 256
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.