As a chief spokesperson for a national movement to prevent violence and a frequent speaker in national media and public forums, Dr. Deborah Prothrow-Stith is a nationally recognized public health leader. In 1987, she was appointed the first woman Commissioner of Public Health for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In that role, she established the…

This paper reviews research on the returns to education in Tanzania, both financial and non-financial, and considers whether these returns translate into poverty reduction. It looks at reasons why achievement of high primary enrolment rates in the past did not lead to the realisation of the associated developmental outcomes, considering factors…

This article reflects on the historic tensions of education under capitalism, arguing that they have been exacerbated in our era of neo-liberal globalisation. Government drives for greater "accountability" and "effectiveness" are a blinkered response to the threefold global crisis we face: poverty and debt; a collapse of the…

The increase in the number of slow learners and children with learning disabilities in schools in Africa has become a major issue and concern. The situation is reflected in various school-leaving examinations, where an average of 30 percent of the results are below average or failures each year. Although there are no statistical records available…

We examine the relationship between early cognitive development, socioeconomic status (SES), child health, and parenting quality in a developing country. We use a sample of more than 3,000 predominantly poor preschool-aged children from Ecuador, and analyze determinants of their scores on a widely used test of language ability. We find that…

The causes and consequences of homelessness have been the subject of considerable social science research. This report details recovery from homelessness, or "exits from homelessness," through analysis of descriptive demographic data and correlation of success rates with participant behavior and intervention context. The 2-year…

This report discusses the results of a qualitative evaluation of the Maternal Infant Health Outreach Worker (MIHOW) project which served over 500 low-income women from 1982 through 1990. The MIHOW project provides outreach services to low-income families in rural communities in Tennessee, Kentucky, Virginia, and West Virginia. Working in…

This monograph used a qualitative orientation to examine the inadequacy of public assistance income in New York City as it affects material conditions among welfare families, their attempts to mitigate the negative consequences of income inadequacy through coping strategies, and the broader social environment within poor communities. The data…

In the 1980s, the falling incomes and climbing poverty rates characterizing young workers in rural America were closely linked to rapidly changing national and international economic systems. Findings of a recent Senate Budget Committee study indicate that between 1979 and 1987 the share of young workers (ages 16-34) with low-wage jobs increased…

In the 1980s California poverty rates increased dramatically. Poverty rates were substantially higher in rural areas and for Hispanics, Asians, single-parent families, and children. The percentage of the labor force in poverty increased, and poverty rates were exceptionally high for the unemployed and for "discouraged workers." The…

Between 1979 and 1983 the noninstitutionalized Medicaid population grew by 210,000 people, or one percent. In comparison, because of a severe economic recession, there was a 37 percent increase in the number of people in poverty during the same period. The Medicaid population growth rate is relatively small for the following reasons: (1) Congress…

A decade's explosive growth in the scope, funding and complexity of national social policy has created serious problems in the United States. This first overview report notes that the Office of Economic Opportunity (now known as the Community Services Administration) has ceased to provide a focal point for national social policy. It was this state…

THIS ANALYSIS OF POVERTY IS PREDICATED ON THE VIEW THAT AMERICA IS DIVIDED INTO TWO SOCIAL CLASSES, THE AFFLUENT AND THE UNDERCLASS. THE "SUSTAINING CONDITIONS" WHICH RESTRICT SOCIAL MOBILITY FOR THE UNDERCLASS ARE (1) PUBLIC ATTITUDES TOWARD THE POOR, (2) THE EFFECTS OF PREVIOUS DEPRIVATIONS, AND (3) SUCH "INTERGENERATIONAL" BARRIERS AS RACE AND…

Significant changes in the diagnosis, study, and treatment of mental retardation are documented, and the long-range trend toward including mental retardation services in programs for all handicapped persons is described. Recommendations are made in three major need areas: residential care for the retarded, manpower for mental retardation programs,…

A consideration of nutrition and intellectual growth opens with a glossary of 12 terms and two reports on hunger in America, one by J.L. Frost and B.L. Payne, the other by the Citizens' Board of Inquiry into Hunger and Malnutrition. Included are articles on nutrition and intellectual development in children, by M. Winick; maternal diet, growth,…