The new politics of poverty : the nonworking poor in America

Bibliographic Information

The new politics of poverty : the nonworking poor in America

Lawrence M. Mead

BasicBooks, c1992

  • : pbk

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Note

Includes bibliographical references (p. [262]-345) and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

: pbk ISBN 9780465050697

Description

Thirty years ago, the great national debate was how to help ordinary, workaday Americans achieve the good things in life. Today, we are preoccupied with,and increasingly divided over,how to cope with the problems of poor and dependent Americans, most of whom cannot or will not work at the jobs available. Mead provides overwhelming and disturbing evidence that passive poverty,the failure of most of the poor to work at all,reflects defeatism more than lack of opportunity. In this controversial book, Mead proposes concrete steps to overcome the inertia of the nonworking poor trapped in the welfare system. If the poor return to work, he suggests, American politics would focus once again on the problems of the working Americans.

Table of Contents

* Introduction * The Crisis of Reform * The Costs of Nonwork * Low Wages and Hard Times * Are Jobs Available? * Barriers to Employment * Human Nature * Policy * Welfare Reform * The Wider Meaning of Dependency * The Prospect
Volume

ISBN 9780465059621

Description

A controversial look at how the failure of most of the poor to work at all has transformed American politics, by a New York University political scientist who is a leading advocate of workfare programs.. Thirty years ago, the great national debate was how to help ordinary, workaday Americans achieve the good things in life. Today, we are preoccupied withand increasingly divided overhow to cope with the problems of poor and dependent Americans, most of whom cannot or will not work at the jobs available. Mead provides overwhelming and disturbing evidence that passive povertythe failure of most of the poor to work at allreflects defeatism more than lack of opportunity. In this controversial book, Mead proposes concrete steps to overcome the inertia of the nonworking poor trapped in the welfare system. If the poor return to work, he suggests, American politics would focus once again on the problems of the working Americans.

Table of Contents

Introduction The Crisis of Reform The Costs of Nonwork Low Wages and Hard Times Are Jobs Available? Barriers to Employment Human Nature Policy Welfare Reform The Wider Meaning of Dependency The Prospect

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