American Poverty In A New Era Of Reform

The U.S. poverty rate today is about 13.3 percent. This modest statistic translates to some 35 million people -- greater than the total population of California, almost twice the population of Texas.

Clearly, American society has a stake in assisting as many of the poor as possible to become self-reliant, secure, and economically productive. This was the goal of the most comprehensive major public policy change in recent American history, the welfare reform plan enacted in August 1996.

In this book Harrell Rodgers offers a carefully documented assessment of poverty in America and the initial impacts of welfare reform -- which, fortunately, has been implemented during a period of economic expansion and low unemployment. He also underscores the importance of backing up welfare reform with policies that support families' efforts to make genuine, sustainable, long-term improvements in their lives and the prospects of their children.

This new edition of American Poverty in a New Era of Reform provides a comprehensive examination of the extent, causes, effects, and costs of American poverty nearly ten years after the pasage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) in 1996. The author includes the most current available demographic, budget, evaluation, and program data to evaluate the impact of this sweeping legislation on federal and state policies, as well as on poverty populations. This revised edition takes into account the economic slowdown that took place in 2001 through 2003. It examines the state decisions about how to implement PRWORA, and how changes have affected the poverty population and overall welfare system. The author identifies the positive implications of welfare reform along with problems that must be addressed. New features for this edition include an appendix of Internet sources and state-by-state tables of poverty rates.