An examination of the huge variation in U.S. regional poverty rates, showing that although demographic, policy, and cost-of-living factors all play a role, economic differences are key.

An examination of how potential welfare recipients would be affected by reform proposals calling for a reduction in benefits and a shift in fiscal responsibility from the federal government to the states, with emphasis on the sometimes substantial impact of business cycle swings on welfare...

An explanation of an alternative analysis of poverty based on consumption rather than on annual income, which disputes the documented breakdown in progress against poverty in the 1980s and concludes that the poor appear to benefit from a growing economy now as much as in previous decades.