Welfare Policy in Transition: Redefining the Social Contract for Poor Citizen Families with Children and for Immigrants

In spite of an unprecedented period of growth and prosperity, the U.S. poverty rate remains high relative to the levels of the early 1970s and relative to those in many industrialized countries today. Looking back over the four decades since the nation declared war on poverty, the authors ask how the poor have fared in the market economy, what government programs have and have not accomplished, and what remains to be done. They shed light on how changes in the labor market, family structure, and social welfare, health, and education policies have affected trends in poverty. Most significantly, they offer suggestions for changes in programs and policies that hold real promise for reducing poverty and income inequality.