This book comprises 19 essays that attempt to tell the truth about urban poverty, social dislocation, and changes in American family life. They show that the rise in the percentage of children living in poverty is due to an increasing number of female-headed households and a decline in the earnings of young men. The following papers are included: (1) "The Urban Underclass and the Poverty Paradox" (P. E. Peterson); (2) "Is the American Underclass Growing?" (C. Jencks); (3) "Employment and Earnings of Disadvantaged Young Men in a Labor Shortage Economy" (R. B. Freeman); (4) "Gains from Growth? The Impact of Full Employment on Poverty in Boston" (P. Osterman); (5) "Joblessness and Shiftlessness: Labor Force Activity in Chicago's Inner City" (M. Tienda and H. Stier); (6) "Teenage Underclass Behavior and Subsequent Poverty: Have the Rules Changed?" (G. J. Duncan and S. D. Hoffman); (7) "Socioeconomic Change and the Decline of Marriage for Blacks and Whites" (R. D. Mare and C. Winship); (8) "'We'd Love To Hire Them, But...': The Meaning of Race for Employers" (J. Kirschenman and K. M. Neckerman); (9) "Ghetto Poverty in the United States, 1970-1980" (P. A. Jargowsky and M. J. Bane); (10) "Residential Segregation of Social and Economic Groups among Blacks, 1970-80" (R. Farley); (11) "Effects of Neighborhoods on Dropping Out of School and Teenage Childbearing" (J. Crane); (12) "How Much Does a High School's Racial and Socioeconomic Mix Affect Graduation and Teenage Fertility Rates?" (S. E. Mayer); (13) "Employment and Earnings of Low-Income Blacks Who Move to Middle-Class Suburbs" (J. E. Rosenbaum and S. J. Popkin); (14) "The Political Behavior of Poor People" (J. M. Berry, K. E. Portney, and K. Thomson); (15) "Neighborhood Effects on Teenage Pregnancy" (E. Anderson); (16) "Culture, Rationality, and the Underclass" (J. D. Greenstone); (17) "Targeting within Universalism: Politically Viable Policies to Combat Poverty in the United States" (T. Skocpol); (18) "Universal and Targeted Approaches to Relieving Poverty: An Alternative View" (R. Greenstein); and (19) "Public Policy Research and the Truly Disadvantaged" (W. J. Wilson). There are 73 tables of statistical data and 23 illustrative figures. (SLD)