Ending Poverty in America: How to Restore the American Dream [Hardcover]

John Edwards (Editor), Marion Crain (Editor), Arne L. Kalleberg (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 30, 2007

John Edwards puts a seminal issue back on the map, presenting blueprints for ending poverty in America.

"This is one of the great moral issues of our time. The day after Katrina hit, new government statistics showed that 37 million Americans live in poverty, up for the fourth year in a row."—Senator John Edwards

Is poverty a fact of life? Can the wealthiest nation in the world do nothing to combat the steadily rising numbers of Americans living in poverty—or the 50 million Americans living in "near poverty"? Senator John Edwards and some of the country's most prominent scholars, businesspeople, and community activists say otherwise.

Published in conjunction with one of the country's leading anti-poverty centers, Ending Poverty in America brings together some of America's most respected social scientists, including William Julius Wilson, Katherine S. Newman, and Richard B. Freeman, alongside journalists, neighborhood organizers, and business leaders. The voices heard here are both liberal and conservative, and tackle hot-button issues such as job creation, schools, housing, and family-friendly social policy.

The contributors explain why poverty is growing and outline concrete steps that can be taken now to start turning the tide. In a political landscape seemingly bereft of daring and forward-thinking ideas, this new book lays out a path toward eliminating poverty in America—a template for a renewed public debate for an issue of intense urgency.

Contributors include: Jared Bernstein, Anita Brown-Graham, Carol Mendez Cassell, Richard Freeman, Angela Glover-Blackwell, Jacob Hacker, Harry Holzer, Jack Kemp, Glenn Loury, Ron Mincy, Katherine S. Newman, Melvin Oliver, Dennis Orthner, David Shipler, Beth Shulman, Michael Stegman, Elizabeth Warren, William Julius Wilson.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At a time when U.S. income inequality has reached levels not seen since 1928, Senator (and presidential candidate) Edwards and company turn their attention to that near-forgotten project, the War on Poverty, declared by FDR, revived by LBJ and lately eclipsed by Wars on Drugs and Terror. In this engrossing collection of rigorously researched articles, more than two dozen contributors examine the state of poverty, hammering home two War on Poverty standards: the rich are getting richer while the 37 million living in poverty get nothing, while a third argument bolsters those standbys: the middle class is getting poorer. Elizabeth Warren's troubling article shows how, in the 2000s, two-income families are far more vulnerable to economic crises than their single-income counterparts, and in fact have less disposable real income (by about $1,500) than single-income families did in the 1970s. Contributors, including Edwards himself, propose some sensible policy solutions, and frequently without raising taxes: raising the minimum wage, creating a Financial Product Safety Commission (to end usurious consumer credit practices), developing programs to increase asset ownership (e.g., homes) and offering tax advantages for employers who provide education, child care and a living wage. Responsible and intelligent, this dispatch makes an urgent case for redeployment in the battle for America's impoverished.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

John Edwards is the former director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. He practiced law for twenty years before serving as a senator from 1998-2004 and running for vice president in 2004. He holds an Alumni Distinguished Professorship at UNC. Marion Crain, the director of the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, is the Paul Eaton Professor of Law at UNC. Arne L. Kalleberg is a Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology and the Senior Associate Dean for Social Sciences in the College of Arts and Sciences at UNC.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: New Press, The (April 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1595581766
• ISBN-13: 978-1595581761
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 1.1 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,106,624 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arne L. Kalleberg is a Kenan Distinguished Professor of Sociology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his BA from Brooklyn College in 1971 and his Ph.D. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1975. Kalleberg has published more than 100 articles and chapters and eleven books on topics related to the sociology of work, organizations, occupations and industries, labor markets, and social stratification. His most recent book is Good Jobs, Bad Jobs: The Rise of Polarized and Precarious Employment Systems in the United States, 1970s-2000s (Russell Sage Foundation, 2011). He is currently working on projects that examine the growth of precarious work in Asia and institutional determinants of inequality in the United States. He served as Secretary of the American Sociological Association from 2001 to 2004 and as President in 2007-8.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Serious Study of Poverty and Strategies to Overcome It April 3, 2008

By Alan F. Fogelquist

Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase

When I first saw the cover of this book, I thought it might be the usual book written by a candidate for office.

Instead, when I looked deeper I found a work containing articles by serious scholars and professionals who have studied the causes of poverty and inequality in the United States and who present credible solutions.

The book is edited by John Edwards, who has put together and excellent group of specialists on poverty representing a variety of disciplines ranging from law to social work and economics. This is a multidisciplinary look at a key issue often neglected by economists.

It is too bad that more of the ideas of John Edwards and the scholars writing this book will probably not become policy.

2 of 7 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Research Resource! December 2, 2007

By K. Portlance

Format:Hardcover

I recently purchased Ending Poverty for a paper i had to write and it came in as a great resource for my research on Poverty. The book includes graphs and numerous statistics along with John Edwards imput on various aspects of poverty, making it an excellent resource for not only my college paper, but most surely for others. As far as reading goes, I wasn't able to finish it due to a deadline but what i had read was a little bland, very straight-to-the point in terms of connecting numbers with Edwards' thoughts on what they mean to him. Again, a great book for resource, but probably not one i would stalk bookstores to read for pleasure.

3 of 13 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Free Money Schemes July 26, 2010

By Ashandarei

Format:Hardcover

Yes, government programs are nice. But the purpose is defeated in the making. The government does not have any teachings to inspire the lower/middle class to achieve higher. The school systems continue to teach no financial lessons beyond basic math, instead focusing on separating children from real-life hard-work-to-achieve principles.

In the meanwhile, government takes larger percentages than churches request, spend more money for less benefits than their non-profit counterparts. Nonprofit programs are inspiring. Government programs are to be taken advantage of.

The government is NOT the answer. I know politicians are bred to want to use the government to do the best they can for the people, but the truth of the matter is we have let this go too far already, and many of these programs our poor rely on are ineffective, cost overmuch, and teach reliance upon "free fish". As America has the largest donating percentage in the world, we should allow and encourage true giving and back off on the government interference which seems to achieve nothing but a basic family breakdown and laziness among the poor.

One of my favorite quotes is: Give a man a fish, feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, feed him for the rest of his life.

Or even better: Ben Franklin said: "I am for doing good to the poor, but I differ in opinion of the means. I think the best way of doing good to the poor, is not making them easy in poverty, but leading or driving them out of it. In my youth I traveled much, and I observed in different countries, that the more public provisions were made for the poor, the less they provided for themselves, and of course became poorer. And, on the contrary, the less was done for them, the more they did for themselves, and became richer."