Increasing numbers of diverse families, caught in the web of poverty, are becoming homeless. Homeless shelters have tended to focus on meeting only critical necessities such as food and shelter. However, the needs of the homeless are much more complex and challenging. Homeless families have deep-rooted problems and fractured relationships. Staff…

A study was conducted using panel data on individuals (from the Panel Survey on Income Dynamics) to examine how local labor demand conditions affect the economic well-being of disadvantaged groups and the poor. The study assumed that growth in the metropolitan economy particularly helps disadvantaged individuals. A regression model using pooled…

Children whose family income is below the official poverty line determined by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) are eligible for enrollment into Head Start. The official poverty line is currently $13,400 per year. In a 1990 report, the Head Start Silver Ribbon Panel noted that: (1) Head Start eligibility requirements are more stringent…

This article traces the history and development of the Pittsburgh History and Landmarks Foundation. This foundation has been notably successful in preserving neighborhoods for their original inhabitants and now has the first urban renewal program to be based on historic preservation for poor people. (BT)

The impact of poverty and dispossesion is investigated, describing the manner in which social and cultural background affects upbringing and thereby affects intellectual functioning. (Author/KM)

A study was conducted to determine whether a relationship existed between the agricultural slump of 1924 and the economic vitality of rural weekly newspapers in Missouri. "Rural weekly newspaper" was defined as any weekly newspaper in a predominantly agrarian locale with a city population of fewer than 5,000 and a county population of…

This document contains the report of an Illinois task force formed to examine issues that make it different to grow older as a woman than as a man and to develop a set of recommendations to help meet the needs of women in Illinois. The focus is on housing, health care, and economic security of older women. It is noted that over 1,300 older women…

According to Census Bureau data, the gap in after-tax income between the richest 20 percent of American households and the rest of the nation hit its widest point in 1984. The top fifth of U.S. households received 42.3 percent of all after-tax income that year, a gain largely at the expense of middle income households. Since 1980 the share of…

This briefing report provides information on recent trends in: (1) the number of households applying for food stamp benefits; (2) the number of households participating in the Food Stamp Program; and (3) the percentage of households whose food stamps were improperly denied or terminated. The data were reported by the 50 U.S. states, the District…

This report analyzes recent Census data on poverty and income for 1986. While the poverty rate declined slightly in 1986, it remained at an unusually high level for the fourth year of an economic recovery, and minority poverty rates remain far higher than those of the general population. The poor grew poorer in 1986, and the gap between rich and…

This document presents witness testimonies and prepared statements from the Congressional hearing called to examine the effects of homelessness on children and families. In their opening statements, Representatives George Miller and Dan Coats emphasize that homelessness threatens the physical health and safety of children, places them at risk of…

In 1886, the New York "Tribune" ran a series of articles by Helen Campbell, "The Prisoners of Poverty," which investigated the sufferings of working women in New York's slums. Initially a fiction and housekeeping writer, Helen Campbell's home economics orientation first pointed her toward the problems of the poor. In the late…

Possible causes for the rapid increase in the poverty rate from 1980 to 1982 were investigated, with two factors in particular being considered: the impact of the welfare program provisions of the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 (OBRA), and the recessionary economy experienced during that year. The basic study design used a computer…

This report, which is designed to develop a clearer perception of the characteristics of single parents in North Dakota, describes single men and women who lived with their children but without a spouse in 1970 and in 1980. The parents' gender, marital status, race, age, income, poverty status; the number of children with whom they lived; and the…