"By age 75, 58.5% of Americans have encountered at least one year of poverty... The fact that nearly 30 percent of the American population experiences five or more years of poverty during adulthood is eye opening." (p.95) Those statistics are just a few of the eye opening numbers in Mark Rank's One Nation, Underprivileged: why American Poverty Affects Us All. Rank's argues that poverty is not the result of individual shortcomings, but systemic problems of the economic structure of the United States, which fails to produce enough decent paying jobs, and fails to provide sufficient safety nets. He explains why we need to care about poverty, and why it is in everyone's best interest to eradicate it. He concludes with specific suggestions for action by individuals and the nation. Not beach reading, but worthwhile. (Vairo Library HV91.R363 2004)
Posted by slw4 at April 25, 2005 04:40 PM