Understanding Poverty [book review]

Enormous shifts occurred in poverty trends, research and policies in the United States during the 1990s. Poverty rates soared early in the decade; at their peak, the rates approached the levels associated with the deep recession of the early 1980s. The rapid ascent, however, was followed by an even more rapid decline that brought poverty rates near to their historic lows of the mid-1970s. Numerous methodological developments, such as the introduction of new measures, a return to large-scale social experiments, and a more widespread and sophisticated application of qualitative, ethnographic methods, also marked the decade. In terms of policy, the federal and state governments had just begun implementing the Family Support Act and Medicaid expansions at the start of the 1990s. Within a few years, the federal government expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit, while the states began experimenting with cash assistance reforms through Section 1115 waivers from the Social Security Act. In 1996, the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) swept the old Aid to Families with Dependent Children program aside and replaced it with Temporary Assistance for Needy Families. The legislation also changed how food assistance, child support enforcement and other programs operated. With these vast changes as a backdrop, the edited volume, Understanding Poverty, sets out to crystallize current thinking about various aspects of poverty