Changing poverty and changing antipoverty policies / Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger -- Poverty levels and trends in comparative perspective / Daniel R. Meyer and Geoffrey L. Wallace -- Economic change and the structure of opportunity for less-skilled workers / Rebecca M. Blank -- Family...

The Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) of 1996 represents a dramatic change in the US welfare state. One of its key goals was to move lone mothers, even those with young children, from welfare to work. Early evidence suggests that, in concert with a strong...

This chapter reviews definitional issues that arise in assessing the extent of, and change in, poverty in western industrialized countries, including the choice of resource, level of poverty line and appropriate adjustments for the size and type of the income-sharing unit. The chapter also...