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Social Work Child Poverty
by
Robert Plotnick

Introduction

The child poverty literature overlaps to a significant degree the literature on poverty among working-age families. Both sit within the broader literature on poverty in general, which bears a close relationship to the literatures on social welfare policy and the welfare state. The literature on child poverty encompasses five major topics: the measurement of poverty, trends in child poverty and characteristics of poor children, causes of child poverty, the short- and long-term consequences for children of living in poor families, and public policies that affect child poverty. It draws on multiple disciplinary perspectives, including demography, developmental psychology, economics, geography, history, political science, public policy, sociology, social welfare, and urban affairs. The nature of child poverty in affluent countries differs greatly from the situation in low-income, developing countries. This entry will focus on the literature about child poverty in the United States and other affluent countries. Raising income may be an effective way to reduce families’ needs for social services and thereby ease the burden on caseworkers and reduce budgetary pressures on social service agencies.

General Overviews

Several excellent references provide introductions to poverty in general and include substantial material on child poverty. The chapters in Cancian and Danziger 2009 cover the major poverty issues in the United States. It is not a textbook, but can serve well as the core text for graduate and advanced undergraduate courses on US poverty. Rank 2004 emphasizes the importance of structural causes of poverty; builds the social, political, and ethical case for aggressive antipoverty initiatives; and argues for a comprehensive set of policy reforms. Among books specific to child poverty, Lindsey 2009 provides a broad discussion of American child poverty and antipoverty policies that could be the core text in an undergraduate course. Rainwater and Smeeding 2003 contains a wealth of cross-national information on poor children and income support policies, with emphasis on the United States. Arrighi and Maume 2007 is notable for its wide range of topics, many of which are not covered in the other books. Its individual chapters are narrower in scope than those in Cancian and Danziger 2009 and give relatively little attention to policy recommendations. Katz 1986 is a classic historical study of American poverty and welfare from the late 18th century to 1985.

  • Arrighi, B., and D. Maume, eds. 2007. Child poverty in America today. Praeger Perspectives. Westport, CT: Praeger.

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    The chapters in this four-volume work address a wide range of topics in child poverty in the United States and include original empirical analyses. Chapters are organized under four major sections: families and children, health and medical care, the promise of education, and children and the state. Chapters are suitable for undergraduates.

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  • Cancian, M., and S. Danziger, eds. 2009. Changing poverty, changing policies. Revised versions of papers originally presented at a conference held in Madison, Wisconsin, in May 2008. New York: Russell Sage.

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    The chapters examine major poverty issues, including trends and levels of poverty; economic and demographic factors affecting poverty; economic mobility; antipoverty policies in the realms of income support, family, education, health, and workforce development; the politics of poverty; and new measures of poverty. The volume contains some of the best current thinking on US poverty and antipoverty policies.

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  • Katz, M. 1986. In the shadow of the poorhouse: A social history of welfare in America. New York: Basic Books.

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    Katz sets welfare and related antipoverty policies in the context of American social history from the late 18th century to 1985. He examines how social policy changed in response to the large shifts in America’s social and economic structure over this period.

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  • Lindsey, D. 2009. Child poverty and inequality: Securing a better future for America’s children. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

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    Lindsey succinctly describes child poverty in the mid-2000s and explains why US social welfare policies have had little success in reducing it. He discusses the adverse consequences of rising economic inequality for equal opportunity and poverty. The book proposes major policy changes aimed at significantly reducing child poverty.

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  • Rainwater, L., and T. Smeeding. 2003. Poor kids in a rich country: America’s children in comparative perspective. New York: Russell Sage.

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    Provides a wealth of comparative data and shows that child poverty in the United States exceeds that in other rich countries. Examines the economic, demographic, and public policy factors that account for this situation and recommends policies, drawing on other nations’ experience, to reduce child poverty in the United States.

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  • Rank, M. 2004. One nation, underprivileged: Why American poverty affects us all. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

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    The book provides some novel analyses of American poverty and argues for a new paradigm for antipoverty policy. It suggests progressive policy reforms aimed at the labor market, health care, education, child care, income support, housing, and other aspects of poor families’ lives.

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Textbooks

A handful of books are explicitly intended as texts for courses on US poverty. Iceland 2006, Rodgers 2006, and Schiller 2007 are suitable for undergraduates in economics, sociology, social work, and other majors. Lang 2007 and Wolf 2009 are better suited for advanced undergraduate courses on the economics of poverty and discrimination. Crane and Heaton’s 2008 edited volume covers a wide range of child poverty issues and would serve well as a supplement to the other books listed here.

  • Crane, D., and T. Heaton, eds. 2008. Handbook of families and poverty. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

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    The volume has fifteen chapters on poverty among diverse populations and settings, four on welfare, and eight on nonwelfare interventions for poor families and children. Authors represent a range of academic disciplines (but not economics) and political perspectives. Suitable for undergraduate and basic graduate courses, except those that emphasize economic analysis.

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  • Iceland, J. 2006. Poverty in America: A handbook. 2d ed. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.

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    In a concise, readable format, Iceland provides a comprehensive picture of poverty in America. He shows how poverty is measured and has changed over time. He discusses how public policies have grappled with poverty as a political issue and an economic reality.

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  • Lang, K. 2007. Poverty and discrimination. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.

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    Lang discusses major theories, important empirical evidence, and key policy issues relevant for understanding and reducing poverty and discrimination in the United States. Readers need to understand microeconomics and basic regression analysis.

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  • Rodgers, H. 2006. American poverty in a new era of reform. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe.

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    Rodgers provides an excellent primer on the extent, causes, effects, and costs of poverty in the United States. He highlights key contemporary trends, important dimensions of debate, and lessons from recent decades of public policy, especially federal and state welfare reform.

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  • Schiller, B. 2007. The economics of poverty and discrimination. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

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    Schiller provides a brief, lucid discussion of the dimensions of poverty in the United States, the causes of poverty and discrimination, and policy options. His book, Iceland’s, and Rodgers’s are less advanced than Lang’s and Wolf’s texts.

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  • Wolf, E. 2009. Poverty and income distribution. Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell.

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    This text covers the measurement, trends, and causes of income and wealth inequality, poverty, and discrimination in the United States in detail. Policy issues receive less attention than in Lang 2007.

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Journals

Because research on child poverty crosses multiple disciplines and substantive topics, it appears in a wide array of scholarly journals too numerous to be listed. These include general disciplinary journals such as the American Sociological Review, Demography, Quarterly Journal of Economics, and Social Service Review, as well as journals specializing in education, family, health, income support, social services, labor markets, social policy, and other issues related to poverty. Listed in this section are journals that regularly publish articles on child poverty and closely related issues.

Measuring Child Poverty

Citro and Michael 1995 remains the most comprehensive discussion of the measurement of poverty in affluent societies. Rainwater and Smeeding 2003 (cited under General Overviews) has a useful discussion of measurement issues for cross-national analyses. European Commission 2008 contains information about measurement and data sources that is useful for persons interested in child poverty in Europe. Hills, et al. 2002 is a good introduction to the social exclusion perspective on poverty. The US Census Bureau has extensive information on poverty measurement on its website.

  • Citro, C., and R. Michael, eds. 1995. Measuring poverty: A new approach. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.

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    This volume comprehensively discusses the concepts and data that underlie the US poverty measure, problems with the measure, and how to better measure poverty. It is still the best treatment of this issue.

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  • European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities. 2008. Child poverty and well-being in the EU: Current status and way forward. Luxembourg: Office for Official Publications of the European Communities.

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    The report provides rich comparative data on child poverty and social exclusion for the twenty-seven countries in the EU. It discusses methodological issues in measuring poverty and well-being and reviews the national systems for monitoring child poverty and well-being and for assessing antipoverty policies. It also makes recommendations for improving those systems across the EU.

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  • Hills, J., J. Le Grand, and D. Piachaud, eds. 2002. Understanding social exclusion. Oxford: Oxford Univ. Press.

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    “Social exclusion” is a conception of poverty that differs from conventional financial measures and is increasingly prominent in EU research and policy discussions. This book explores the concept, measurement, and determinants of social exclusion as well as policies to reduce it in Great Britain.

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  • US Census Bureau. Poverty.

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    This section of the bureau’s website contains extensive information on the official US measure of poverty and alternatives to it. It also provides references to major studies of poverty measurement, extensive data on American poverty, and links to related websites.

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    Trends

    Bradbury, et al. 2001; Cornia and Danziger 1997; Rainwater and Smeeding 2003 (cited under General Overviews); and Vleminckx and Smeeding 2000 provide extensive cross-national information about the level and trend in child poverty in Europe, the United States, and other affluent countries as well as analyses of social factors related to the level and trend. Rainwater and Smeeding 2003 and Vleminckx and Smeeding 2000 are distinguished by their attention to the length of time children spend in poor families. See the US Census Bureau website for current and historical data on child poverty in the United States. The National Center for Children in Poverty provides data on child poverty and antipoverty policies in the United States that is more accessible to practitioners and advocates than the Census Bureau. European Commission 2008 provides extensive comparative data on child poverty in the EU. Innocenti Research Centre 2007 provides data for the OECD nations and a few non-OECD nations, including Israel, Russia, and some Eastern European countries. MacInnes, et al. 2009 contains extensive data for the United Kingdom on poverty, social exclusion, and other aspects of child, youth, and adult well-being.

    Causes and Consequences

    Blank, et al. 2006 discusses macroeconomic and labor market factors that generate poverty. Cancian and Danziger 2009 (cited under General Overviews) discusses these factors as well and also analyzes how family structure and immigration affect poverty. Wilson 1996 discusses how labor markets and race and ethnicity affect poverty. Lin and Harris 2008 discusses in more depth current theories and evidence on the causal link between poverty and both race and ethnicity. Edin and Kefalas 2005, McLanahan and Sandefur 1994, and Wilson 1996 examine relationships between family structure and poverty. Duncan and Brooks-Gunn 1997 and Mayer 1997 are the major books on the consequences of poverty for children’s short and long-term well-being. The two present an interesting contrast since Duncan and Brooks-Gunn 1997 suggests the poverty has negative consequences, while Mayer 1997 argues that, ultimately, the factors that cause parents to be poor also reduce their children’s life chances.

    • Blank, R., S. Danziger, and R. Schoeni, eds. 2006. Working and poor: How economic and policy changes are affecting low-wage workers. National Poverty Center Series on Poverty and Public Policy. New York: Russell Sage.

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      Covering the years since 1979, the book comprehensively examines changes in the labor market for less-skilled workers in the United States and the role that public policies can play in improving the lives of working poor families.

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    • Duncan, G., and J. Brooks-Gunn, eds. 1997. Consequences of growing up poor. New York: Russell Sage.

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      A multidisciplinary set of authors finds significant negative associations between poverty and children’s ability and academic achievement, but not their behavior, physical health, or mental health. Some chapters examine whether family conditions such as marital status and parenting practices mediate these relationships.

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    • Edin, K., and M. Kefalas. 2005. Promises I can keep: Why poor women put motherhood before marriage. Berkeley: Univ. of California Press.

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      Edin and Kefalas’s outstanding qualitative study analyzes how poor women make decisions about childbearing and marriage in contemporary America and the effect those decisions have on the women, their children, and the men in their lives. The authors also discuss the findings’ implications for marriage policy.

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    • Lin, A., and D. Harris, eds. 2008. The colors of poverty: Why racial and ethnic disparities persist. National Poverty Center Series on Poverty and Public Policy. New York: Russell Sage.

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      Each chapter critically discusses one aspect of the racial and ethnic disparities that characterize poverty in the United States. The book could serve well as a supplementary text for a multidisciplinary graduate course on poverty.

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    • Mayer, S. 1997. What money can’t buy: Family income and children’s life chances. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.

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      Mayer creatively explores whether income directly affects children’s life chances, or if factors that cause parents to be poor also reduce their children’s prospects for success. She concludes that by itself, money is not a sufficient catalyst for children’s success.

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    • McLanahan, S., and G. Sandefur. 1994. Growing up with a single parent: What hurts, what helps? Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.

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      The classic study of how family structure affects children’s life chances. It spawned a huge literature that generally finds that growing up with both biological parents is associated with better child and early-adult outcomes compared to growing up in other family structures. The issue remains contested.

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    • Wilson, W. 1996. When work disappears: The world of the new urban poor. New York: Knopf.

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      This masterful study concludes that structural constraints and limited opportunities are largely responsible for poverty in urban ghettoes in the United States, not destructive values and lack of ambition. Wilson then presents a comprehensive agenda for policy reform. This work is the sequel to his seminal book The Truly Disadvantaged: The Inner City, the Underclass, and Public Policy (Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press, 1987).

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    Antipoverty Policies

    Cancian and Danziger 2009 (cited under General Overviews) has extensive discussions of how a broad range of public policies affect poverty and provides recommendations for reform. The chapters in Edwards, et al. 2007 present wide-ranging proposals for reducing poverty and are written for a broad audience. Blank, et al. 2006 discusses the effects of a more limited set of policies. Heinrich and Scholz 2009 examines the current safety net and discuss policy and institutional reforms that would enhance the self-sufficiency of low-income families. Currie 2006 examines noncash income–tested policies’ impacts on poor children and is accessible to undergraduates. McKernan and Sherraden 2008 is an excellent introduction to the literature on asset building for poor families, which is an increasingly important policy issue in the United States and internationally. Grogger and Karoly 2005 and Ziliak 2009 contain extensive evidence on the impacts of US welfare reform. Alesina and Glaeser 2004 assesses possible causes of the differences in antipoverty policies between the United States and Europe. In contrast to the other books, it does not offer policy recommendations.

    • Alesina, A., and E. Glaeser. 2004. Fighting poverty in the US and Europe: A world of difference. Rodolfo Debenedetti Lectures. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.

      DOI: 10.1093/0199267669.001.0001Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

      A probing analysis of why the United States and Europe have adopted such different social policies in response to income inequality and poverty. The authors examine economic conditions, political institutions, racial and ethnic diversity, the effects of wars, social values, attitudes toward the poor, and other factors.

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    • Blank, R., S. Danziger, and R. Schoeni, eds. 2006. Working and poor: How economic and policy changes are affecting low-wage workers. National Poverty Center Series on Poverty and Public Policy. New York: Russell Sage.

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      Six chapters in this volume examine the effects on low-income workers and their families of tax policies, child support policies, unemployment insurance, health insurance, welfare-to-work programs that rely on temporary employment agencies, and overall state spending on social assistance programs.

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    • Currie, J. 2006. The invisible safety net: Protecting the nation’s poor children and families. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.

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      Currie provides an authoritative, incisive summary of how major US noncash antipoverty programs operate, what they accomplish, and how they can be improved to fight poverty more effectively and prevent children from falling through the safety net.

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    • Edwards, J., M. Crain, and A. Kalleberg, eds. 2007. Ending poverty in America: How to restore the American dream. New York: New Press.

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      Edited by the former candidate for president of the United States, along with two scholars, the book’s short chapters discuss a wide range of policy options for reducing poverty. The authors are well-established liberal scholars, journalists, community organizers, and business leaders. Suitable for undergraduate courses.

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    • Grogger, J., and L. Karoly. 2005. Welfare reform: Effects of a decade of change. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.

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      The authors provide the definitive assessment of research on the impacts of American welfare reform up through about 2002. The book is an exemplar of rigorous synthesis of a complex body of research.

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    • Heinrich, C., and J. K. Scholz, eds. 2009. Making the work-based safety net work better: Forward-looking policies to help low-income families. New York: Russell Sage.

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      The chapters discuss policies to promote work in low-income families, consequences of work-based safety-net policies for the health and well-being of workers and young children, K–12 education reform, policies to help ex-prisoners and “disconnected” workers, European social policies that suggest alternatives for more effectively supporting the working poor, and the politics of antipoverty policy.

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    • McKernan, S., and M. Sherraden, eds. 2008. Asset building and low-income families. Washington, DC: Urban Institute.

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      The book reviews the findings on how poor and moderate-income families accumulate assets and the effects of small-scale asset building programs and discusses the findings’ implications for policy and future research.

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    • Ziliak, J., ed. 2009. Welfare reform and its long-term consequences for America’s poor. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.

      DOI: 10.1017/CBO9780511605383Save Citation »Export Citation »E-mail Citation »

      This volume analyzes welfare reform’s effects on single mothers and their children, using both pre- and postreform data. The chapters provide a wealth of descriptive information and rich findings from multivariate statistical analyses. A good update to Grogger and Karoly 2005.

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    Nonpartisan Research Organizations

    Some research organizations provide extensive non-partisan research on poverty and antipoverty policies. The Brookings Institution and the Urban Institute are two premier think tanks that conduct and publish research on a broad range of policy issues germane to child poverty. Much of the research performed by Child Trends on children at every stage of development is relevant to child poverty and antipoverty policy. The Centre for Analysis of Social Exclusion and the Joseph Rowntree Foundation focus on poverty in the United Kingdom and how it compares to that in the EU and other Western nations. The Luxembourg Income Study develops and maintains cross-national data on poverty and related issues and sponsors research using its data. Mathematica Policy Research and MDRC are major research consultants that conduct high-quality research on poverty and other social issues in the United States.

    Advocacy Research Organizations

    Several US advocacy research organizations concentrate on child issues or include poverty and children among their major interest areas. Of these organizations, the Annie E. Casey Foundation and Children’s Defense Fund focus most strongly on child poverty and related children’s issues. The Center for Law and Social Policy, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities and Institute for Women’s Policy Research address a wider set of issues and policies affecting low-income persons. The Center for American Progress and the Heritage Foundation cover a broad range of domestic and international policy areas, including poverty and social policy. While the sites provide useful information, one must interpret them keeping in mind the organizations’ points of view.

    LAST MODIFIED: 05/25/2011

    DOI: 10.1093/OBO/9780195389678-0102

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