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Decades after President Johnson initiated the War on Poverty, it is time for an unbiased assessment of its effects. In this book a distinguished group of economists, sociologists, political scientists, and social policy analysts provide that assessment. Spending on social programs has greatly increased, yet poverty has declined only slightly. Do the numbers alone give an accurate picture? Have the government's efforts, as some critics claim, done more harm than good? The authors of this volume provide a balanced and wide-ranging analysis of antipoverty policies since the 1960s, including both successes and failures.The evidence shows that simple comparisons of spending levels and poverty trends do not tell the whole story: they obscure the diversity of the poor population and the many complex issues involved in evaluating policies. The authors address such questions as: How do economic growth, social movements, and changes in thewelfare system affect the poor? What economic and political factors influence antipoverty programs, and conversely, what implications do these programs have for employment, education, health care, family structure, and civil rights?The authors' account of past failures and their agenda for the next decade show clearly that much remains to be done. Yet they are not as pessimistic as some writers, who maintain that nothing will work. Rather, they say, nothing will work miracles.As a guide to the economics and politics of antipoverty programs, this volume is peerless. It is certain to become an important reference for students and scholars in the field, for policy analysts and policymakers, and for program administrators.

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CHOICE Review

A stock-taking volume by social workers, administrators, academics, and other experts, this collection is a critical and condensed review of US approaches to poverty from the 1930s into the 1980s. It surveys a maze of federal, regional, state, and local initiatives and compromises against a background of key social trends. Until the early 20th century, most black and white low-income families lived in two-parent households. By 1940, rates of divorce, female-headed families, and out-of-wedlock births were all rising. Governments reacted partly with bureaucratized policies from above, not always well joined. Among the measures enacted were cash relief, work relief, educational upgrading, food stamps, health services, subsidized housing, student loans, and special programs for youth and the disabled. These essays show that certain categories of the poor have benefited: the aged, the disabled, women with dependent children, and others. Yet poverty in the US has not been overcome or even contained. Jobs now shrink as automation and the arms race expand. Women still face insecurity. Both the business cycle and affirmative action need more attention in a work like this. Too often, as these authors show, ambivalence and backlashes have limited progress in the war on poverty. A distinguished volume for both general and academic readers.-A.K. Davis, University of Alberta