Notes that categorical approach to social welfare in United States leaves many needy individuals unserved. Describes one population that suffers from this approach: poor women at midlife (ages 45 to 64). Examines how impoverished middle-aged women fare in each of several major policy domains to demonstrate shortcomings of residual, categorical…

Examined effects of certain ideological and attitudinal views of Americans on support for public assistance to poor families. Analysis of data from nationally representative sample of public opinion revealed several political and racial views that underlie support, or lack of support, for benefits to families in poverty. (Author/NB)

Uses data from National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to trace poverty status and welfare use in five years following an exit from Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC). Results show substantial diversity in economic well-being. Women who were working when they exited from AFDC do better, and, to a lesser extent so do those who were…

Explores ramifications of simplifying the complexity of children's living arrangements. Drawing on 1990 census data, shows that over two-fifths of children in single-mother families actually lived in households with other adults present. Claims that inaccurate assessments of household living arrangements masks the extent of a race-ethnic gap in…

Explores communities of learning as innovative models for overcoming homeless children's immediate education obstacles while working toward long-term stability. Sheltered communities provide specialized education services for children and their parents and family support services. Profiles three model communities in New York City, Oregon, and…

Summarizes findings from studies that address the effects of assets on personal well-being, economic security, civic behavior, women's status, and children's well-being. Examines implications of asset-building demonstrations and research, presenting it as a new way of thinking about antipoverty strategies where resources are emphasized more than…

Explores what "The New Americans: Economic, Demographic, and Fiscal Effects of Immigration" study by the National Research Council actually says about the effects of immigration, considering the negative wage effects of immigration on the poor and the fact that immigration is not the benefit to the economy it once was thought to be. (SLD)

Reviews three books on street gangs that examine the formation of gangs between the 1940s and 1970s (a period that predates their connection to drug trafficking), look at masculinity in gang culture following the advent of their connection to drug trafficking, and highlight the role of the gangster in American culture in the 1920s and 1930s. (SM)

Claims that the possibility of freedom is an aspect of one's individuality, and this possibility must be actualized through circumstances and conscious involvement with other human beings. Argues education should open spaces to enable poor and minority children to imagine new possibilities for themselves. (NH)

Followed up a 1993 study which concluded that poor and minority women were essentially shut out of mainstream psychological research and theory. Analysis of PsycLit abstracts from 1991-97 investigated whether significant change had occurred and noted the inclusion of poor women in research on sexuality and reproductive health. Results suggest that…

Interviews Robert Torres, a Nuyorican who excelled at school and escaped the ghetto while his family remained, then made a documentary about the situation. This interview examines how poverty affects children; how teachers can help impoverished Hispanic students; how teachers helped him; how educators should be compensated; what making the…

Discusses the shift from rights of labor through the right to labor, to the duty to labor and the changes that have resulted. Suggests that the result is global awareness of pervasive social and economic insecurity. (Author/JOW)

This poem addresses women's resistance to oppression and exploitation and the need for education and social movements to improve the lives of women. (SK)

Surveyed city officials and executive directors of nonprofit organizations nationwide regarding how community-based organizations (CBOs) and city governments collaborated to reduce poverty and revitalize neighborhoods. Although city-CBO collaboration was fairly widespread, in most communities the collaboration was rather "thin," and…

This article considers the influence of social capital on secondary enrollments in American cities in 1950. Data from the U.S. census are utilized to analyze enrollment rates across metropolitan areas with populations greater than 500,000. The effects of adult education levels and poverty rates were linked to social capital; employment patterns…