This new edition of Patterson's widely used book carries the story of battles over poverty and social welfare
through what the author calls the "amazing 1990s," those years of extraordinary performance of the economy.
He explores a range of issues arising from the economic phenomenon -- increasing inequality and demands for use
of an improved poverty definition. He focuses the story on the impact of the highly controversial welfare reform
of 1996, passed by a Republican Congress and signed by a Democratic President Clinton, despite the laments of anguished
liberals.
Table of Contents
I. The Preventive Impulse, 1900-1930
1. Snapshots of the Poor
2. The Gospel of Prevention, Progressive Style
II. Coping and Rehabilitation, 1930-1960
3. The Poor in the Depression
4. The Early Welfare State
5. Withering Away
III. Doors to Opportunity, 1960-1965
6. The Rediscovery of Poverty
7. A Culture of Poverty?
8. Girding for War on Poverty
9. OEO: A Hand Up, Not a Handout
IV. The Unsung Revolution, 1965-1973
10. The Revolution in Social Welfare
11. The Welfare Explosion
12. Floors and Doors
V. Reactions, 1980-2000
13. Stalemate
14. Regression in the Early 1980s
15. Welfare Reform: No Consensus
16. The Amazing 1990s
