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| Acknowledgments | |
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| Introduction | |
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| The Content of This Book | |
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| Recent Developments in the Study of Poverty and Discrimination | |
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| The Object of This Book | |
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| Why Do Policy Analysts Disagree? The Limits of Statistical Arguments | |
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| Why Do Policy Analysts Disagree? The Role of Values | |
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| A Case Study: Retention in Grade | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Appendix: A Quick Guide to Statistics | |
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| Poverty | |
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| Who Is Poor? | |
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| Evidence on the Importance of Relative Income | |
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| How the Government Measures Poverty | |
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| Valuing Nonmonetary Income | |
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| Over What Time Period Should We Measure Poverty? | |
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| Other Problems with the Official Measure | |
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| The National Academy of Sciences Report | |
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| Gathering the Data | |
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| Who Is Poor (By the Official Measure)? | |
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| Extreme Poverty | |
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| Homelessness | |
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| Hunger and Food Insecurity | |
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| Alternative Measures of Poverty | |
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| The Dynamics of Poverty | |
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| Why Does Poverty Last So Long for Some People? | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Appendix: A Brief Note on Data | |
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| The Evolution of Poverty Policy | |
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| Federal Poverty Programs, 1970-2000 | |
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| Incentives under AFDC | |
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| The Earned Income Tax Credit | |
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| Cash or In-Kind Transfer: Which Is Better? | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Trends in Poverty | |
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| Trends Using the Official Measure | |
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| Trends in Poverty under Alternate Measures | |
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| Accounting for Trends | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Appendix: Multivariate Analysis | |
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| Labor Market Policies | |
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| Understanding Wage Inequality | |
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| Minimum Wage Laws | |
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| Living Wage Laws | |
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| Job Training Programs | |
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| Can Job Training Programs Reduce Poverty? | |
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| Evaluating the JTPA | |
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| Evaluating the Job Corps and Other Youth Programs | |
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| Training Programs and Tagging | |
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| Welfare to Work: Work First | |
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| Employer-Based Subsidies | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Appendix: Adjusting for Program Nonparticipation | |
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| Family Composition | |
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| Births to Single Mothers | |
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| Declining Marriage | |
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| Changing Social Attitudes | |
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| The Role of Welfare | |
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| Features of Welfare | |
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| Teenage Childbearing | |
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| Effects of Growing Up with a Single Parent | |
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| Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty | |
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| Policies Aimed at Infants and Toddlers | |
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| Preschool Programs | |
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| Programs for School-Age Children | |
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| Medicaid and SCHIP | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Concentrated Poverty | |
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| Life in High-Poverty Neighborhoods | |
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| Do Neighborhoods Matter? | |
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| The Gautreaux Program | |
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| Moving to Opportunity | |
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| Public Housing | |
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| Gangs | |
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| Community Development | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Education and Education Reform | |
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| Education and Earnings | |
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| Testing | |
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| Decentralization and School Quality | |
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| Using Tests to Increase School and District Accountability | |
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| Concluding Remarks | |
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| Further Reading | |
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| Questions for Discussion | |
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| Welfare Reform | |
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| The Case for Reform | |
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| The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 | |
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| Assessing the Effects of Welfare Reform | |
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| Effect on Welfare Receipt | |
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| Welfare Reform and Well-Being | |
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| Living Arrangements | |
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