Children's poverty rate in the United States, over 20%, exceeds that of all industrialized nations except Australia. This interdisciplinary book examines the impact of changing public policies on children. Section 1 gives a current and historical overview of children in poverty. Sections 2 through 5 address arenas of possible change from policy and research perspectives, maternal employment, child care, fathers' involvement, and health care access. Section 6 considers future policy and research directions. The chapters are: (1) "Whose Responsibility? An Historical Analysis of the Changing Roles of Mothers, Fathers, and Society" (P. L. Chase-Lansdale, M. A. Vinovskis); (2) "The Life Circumstances and Development of Children in Welfare Families: A Profile Based on National Survey Data" (N. Zill and others); (3) "Welfare-to-Work Through the Eyes of Children" (J. B. Wilson and others); (4) "Strategies for Altering the Outcomes of Poor Children and Their Families" (J. Brooks-Gunn); (5) "Policy Issues of Child Care" (A. J. Cherlin); (6) "Child Care and Children of Color" (M. B. Spencer and Others); (7) "Health Policy in the Family Support Act of 1988" (K.S. Lobach); (8) "Economic Issues of Health Care" (B. L. Wolfe); (9) "Dealing with Dads: The Changing Roles of Fathers" (F. F. Furstenberg, Jr.); (10) "The Effects of Child Support Reform on Child Well-Being" (I. Garfinkel, S. McLanahan); (11) "Losing Ground or Moving Ahead? Welfare Reform and Children" (R. Haskins); (12) "National Surveys as Data Resources for Public Policy Research on Poor Children" (N. Zill); (13)"An Interdisciplinary Model and Data Requirements for Studying Poor Children" (T. M. Smeeding); and (14) "Two-Generation Programs: A New Intervention Strategy and Directions for Future Research" (S. Smith). (KDFB)