Only 8 percent of children born into poverty graduate from college by the age of 25. Consider what that means for the estimated 500,000 New York City kids living in poverty. It is a fact: The better educated a person is, the better her chances of upward mobility. So when fewer than one in 10 children born into poverty reach their academic…

Self-help among low-income people is vitally important. In no area is self-help more important than in overcoming poverty's burdens and energizing the escape from poverty. This document comprises an inventory of self-help and mutual-help programs that feature active involvement of members of the low-income population. The programs in this…