The Child and Family Policy Center convened key stakeholders during 2011 and again in 2013 to identify needed improvements to the state's child-care system. This plan reflects the input of focus groups of parents and providers held around Iowa and a planning committee of representatives from public and nonprofit organizations involved with child…

This landmark volume commemorates the fortieth anniversary of the Children's Defense Fund, which has been an uncompromising champion of American youth for all of those years. Yet the book looks not to the past but at our current circumstances--and at the challenges we must meet now and in the future on behalf of our young people. The book examines…

West Baltimore stands out in the popular imagination as the quintessential "inner city"--gritty, run-down, and marred by drugs and gang violence. Indeed, with the collapse of manufacturing jobs in the 1970s, the area experienced a rapid onset of poverty and high unemployment, with few public resources available to alleviate economic…

Philadelphia is an economically diverse city, but its neighborhoods remain economically segregated. Some children live in luxurious row houses; others, in decaying buildings. The neighborhoods in which children often dictate how much exposure to print they experience in their early years, as well how much and what type of adult support they…

Teacher education programs face significant challenges in preparing future teachers for diverse classroom settings. Rising student socioeconomic and ethnic diversity is sharply juxtaposed against a relatively homogenous preservice teacher population. This article advances arguments that support the incorporation of service-learning experiences…

Lower-income students of color in California are often underserved, as evidenced by low-resourced schools, an achievement gap, and low college-going rates. Educators increasingly call for "community schools" that link schools with community members and agencies to promote educational achievement and to access communities as resources for…

Using qualitative content analysis, the authors explored depictions of activism in 35 international, translated titles receiving Mildred L. Batchelder Award and Honor commendations. Findings included identification of three social justice issues appearing in the texts: characters were challenged by poor living conditions or homelessness, labor…

Thailand has been a global economic success story, transforming from one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia in the 1960s, to a modern and dynamic nation, and all within the lifetime of the current generation. However, growth has been accompanied by marked increases in economic inequality both at the regional and individual levels. In this…

Growing life expectancy and changes in financial, marriage and labour markets have placed the income position of the elderly at the center of scientific and political discourse. As a consequence, the last decades witnessed the publication of various influential reports that contained comparative statistics on old age income inequalities on the…

After over 60 years of plain writing advocacy calling for government agencies to increase the clarity of official communication, the Plain Writing Act (PWA) of 2010 codified the incorporation of plain language in any federal government document for pubic use. However, no extensive evaluation of government food assistance applications has been…

The contemporary attempts to tackle poverty and child poverty in the United Kingdom have been seriously hindered by the effects of the economic crisis (Hirsch, 2008a; Mooney, 2011). The prevailing discourses of the recession and intergenerational poverty can lead to a view that the effects of child poverty and the consequent detrimental impact on…

The most prominent theory to explain the curvilinear relationship between income and subjective well-being (SWB) is need theory, which proposes that increased income and wealth can lead to increased well-being in poverty because money is used to satisfy basic physiological needs. The present study tests the tenets of need theory by proposing that…

In the EU commitment to alleviating the high rates of poverty in Europe there is widespread agreement among policy-makers that it is crucial to include the voices of those who are living in poverty in order to fight exclusion most effectively. Similarly, those studying ways to address poverty and inequality are increasingly required to seek…

Children's rights and active citizenship have been significant policy emphases and developments in recent years but the relationship between the two has not been actively explored in relation to the implications for child poverty. Recent policy developments in New Zealand and Sweden are drawn on here to explore this relationship. The article…

Human Capital development through education is a long time investment made by the state to enhance the well being of her citizenry. By investing in education, well educated individuals bring to bear their talents, knowledge, skills and experiences as they function in the various sectors of the economy. Human Capital development is therefore a…