Faced with the problem of how to measure the magnitude of economic disadvantage in the populations served by schools or districts, researchers addressing school finance topics have invariably turned to the fraction of students eligible for free- or reduced-lunches (FRPL). But the facile dependence on FRPL may be problematic. A large and growing…

In "School Communities of Strength," Peter W. Cookson, Jr., lays out a blueprint for providing equitable educational opportunities for students from all socioeconomic strata, and particularly for the five million American children who live with the extreme material hardship known as deep poverty. This work issues an urgent call to action…

As the incomes of affluent and poor families have diverged over the past three decades, so too has the educational performance of their children. But how exactly do the forces of rising inequality affect the educational attainment and life chances of low-income children? In "Whither Opportunity?" a distinguished team of economists,…

This report on the well being of the children of Wisconsin is motivated in part by growing evidence of the adverse circumstances of many children today. The report is descriptive, rather than analytic, and does not attempt to explain relations among variables. Section 1, the introduction, is followed by county-based information in section 2 on a…

Trends in poverty and income inequality and potential solutions for such social problems are discussed. The complicated attitudes of the general public toward public policy and social problems are reviewed, with an emphasis on the persistence and intergenerational transmission of poverty, the extent of welfare dependence, and the emergence of an…

The issue addressed by this paper is the lack of empirical research on the class theories of Karl Marx and Ralf Dahrendorf. In order to bridge this gap, data are analyzed on the theoretical and statistical implications of Marx's theory (which focuses on ownership of the means of production) and Dahrendorf's theory (which focuses on authority in…

Noting that there is near universal agreement that children from families with higher socioeconomic status (SES) have access to more of the resources needed to support their positive development than do lower SES children, this monograph examines the myriad questions remaining regarding relations among SES, parenting, and child development from a…

The impact of the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) on working families was analyzed. The analysis established that the EITC is, on balance, a highly effective program that meets its primary objectives well. The following benefits of the EITC were identified: (1) it reduced the poverty rate in 1999 by an estimated 1.5 percentage points; (2) it is…

This book examines the political and economic consequences of the United States' growing reliance on the market and the effects that this growing reliance is having on U.S. workers and their families. The following are among the topics discussed in the book's 10 chapters: (1) consequences of the turn to the market (disinvestment, imbalance between…

This book contains 17 papers devoted to the following four aspects of the transition to adulthood: effects of alterations in the structure of opportunity; effects of prior experiences in the family; effects of prior experience in the workplace; and career development and marriage formation during a period of rising inequality. The following papers…