163 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
163 lines
9.5 KiB
Plaintext
ÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜÜ ÜÜÜ ÜÜÜÜ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ß ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÜ ÜÛ
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ÜÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÝ ÞÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß
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ÜÛ ÞÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛß ÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛÛ ßÛÜ ßÛÛÛÜÜ ÜÜÛÛÛß ÞÛ ÞÛÛÛÝ ÜÜÛÛ
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ARRoGANT CoURiERS WiTH ESSaYS
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Grade Level: Type of Work Subject/Topic is on:
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[ ]6-8 [ ]Class Notes [Essay on the Urban ]
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[ ]9-10 [ ]Cliff Notes [Underclass ]
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[x]11-12 [x]Essay/Report [ ]
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[ ]College [ ]Misc [ ]
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Dizzed: o4/95 # of Words:1211 School: ? State: ?
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ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>Chop Here>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ>ÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄÄ
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THE URBAN UNDERCLASS: CHALLENGING THE MYTHS ABOUT AMERICA'S URBAN POOR
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Paul Peterson and Christopher Jencks, co editors of "The Urban
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Underclass," and William Julius Wilson, a contributor to the book, will
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conduct a public symposium from 2 to 4 p.m. Tuesday, April 16, in the
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Brookings auditorium. Discussants will include James Johnson of UCLA,
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Charles Murray of the American Enterprise Institute and Isabel Sawhill of
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the Urban Institute. The conference is open to press and other interested
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parties. If you plan to attend, please call 202/797 6105.
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____________________________________________________________________________
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FOR RELEASE: April 16, 1991
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CONTACT: Paul Peterson, 617/495 8312 or Christopher Jencks, 708/491 8724 or
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Lisa Pullen, Assistant Public Affairs Director, 202/797 6105 Palatino
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Conventional wisdom asserts that the United States is witnessing a
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significant expansion of its urban underclass, that chronically poor
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percentage of the population inhabiting Americas central cities.
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Among the trends cited: An inevitable rise in the percentage of teen
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agers who are unmarried mothers, exploding welfare rolls, and legions of
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high school dropouts consigned forever to joblessness. Yet none of these
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perceptions is true, according to a new Brookings book, The Urban
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Underclass. Edited by Christopher Jencks of Northwestern University and
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Paul E. Peterson of Harvard, this set of essays attempts to separate the
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truth about poverty, social dislocation and changes in American family life
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from the myths that have become part of contemporary folklore.
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According to a number of indicators the underclass is shrinking, writes
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Peterson in his introductory essay. A higher percentage of the minority
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population is receiving high school diplomas, a smaller percentage of
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teenagers is having babies out of wedlock, both blacks and whites are
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experiencing fewer crimes committed against them, and the use of drugs is
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declining. Perhaps it is not so much that the situation is deteriorating
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as that Americans' social expectations are rising.
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The editors find that the most troublesome aspect of poverty, the rise in
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the percentage of children living in poverty, is due to the rise in female
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headed households and the decline in the earnings of young men. The United
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States has more children living in poverty than seven other industrialized
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nations used for comparison. In 1987, University of Chicago sociologist
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William Julius Wilson book, The Truly Disadvantaged presented systematic
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evidence of a growing concentration of the minority poor in large cities,
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economically and socially isolated from mainstream society.
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The Urban Underclass brings together 19 essays by sociologists,
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economists, political scientists, and policy analysts in a test of Wilson's
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theories, as well as those in other recent works, including Charles Murray
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1984 book entitled Losing Ground. In his essay, editor Jencks shows that
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poverty rates declined from 1959 to 1974, but then progress stopped.
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Poverty has not become increasingly confined to blacks blacks constituted
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31% of the poor in 1988, the same percentage as in 1967. Black poverty has,
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however, become more urban, making it more visible to opinion leaders,
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Jencks writes. A Different Kind of Underclass Jencks finds that poverty has
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not increased, but has simply changed. The proportion of individuals with
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family incomes below the poverty line, which had fallen steadily from 1940
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to 1970, has not changed much since 1970, Jencks writes. Only the character
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of poverty has changed. It has become less common among the elderly and
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more common among children. Poverty has also become more concentrated
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among families in which the head does not work regularly. He argues that
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while some problems plaguing the poor male joblessness and increasing
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numbers of single parent families have gotten worse, others such as welfare
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dependency and teen age pregnancy have gotten better. Jencks finds that
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blacks, often seen as making up the underclass, constituted 45% of all
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welfare recipients in 1969. By 1987, the percentage had fallen to 40%.
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What has changed, Jencks writes, are the reasons for being poor. In 1968,
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74% of the poor had what Americans consider socially acceptable reasons old
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age, physical disability, school enrollment and low hourly wages for being
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impoverished. This figure dropped to 54% in 1987, thus diminishing public
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sympathy for the poor, he argues. The essays acknowledge the impact of
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recent changes in American society, particularly the increase in female
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headed households during the past 20 years. The trend leaves too many
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children with impaired financial support, inadequate adult supervision and
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instruction, compromised security, fewer alternatives for establishing
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intergenerational relationships and fewer adult role models, writes
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Peterson.
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Additional essays in The Urban Underclass examine a wide range of issues
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concerning the poor, including the impact of economic change, the
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importance of labor market conditions and patterns of segregation in
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residential areas.
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Solving The Poverty Paradox
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The main issue, argues The Urban Underclass, is not so much a growth in
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the size of the underclass as its persistence decades after President
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Johnson launched the War on Poverty in 1964. The book suggests that
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greater efforts are needed to address the poverty paradox the persistence
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of poverty in the most affluent society in the world. Peterson suggests
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that solutions to the problem of the underclass lie in a more integrated,
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comprehensive national welfare policy.
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Theda Skocpol of Harvard advocates universal family security programs
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including child support assurance, parental leave and health benefits that
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would apply to all groups and be paid for by the entire population.
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Robert Greenstein of the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities calls for
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a mix of programs, ranging from universal health care to increased funding
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for targeted programs such as Head Start.
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Wilson concludes the book by elaborating on and extending his theories of
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ghetto poverty. He argues that solutions should place emphasis on race
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neutral programs that would not only address the plight of the
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disadvantaged among minorities, but would apply to all groups in America.
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The real challenge is to develop programs that not only meaningfully
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address the problems of the underclass but that draw broad support, Wilson
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writes.
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Other contributors to the book include Richard B. Freeman; Paul Osterman;
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Marta Tienda and Haya Stier; Greg J. Duncan and Saul D. Hoffman; Robert D.
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Mare and Christopher Winship; Joleen Kirschenman and Kathryn M. Neckerman;
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Paul A. Jargowsky and Mary Jo Bane; Reynolds Farley; Jonathan Crane; Susan
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E. Mayer; James E. Rosenbaum and Susan J. Popkin; Jeffrey M. Berry, Kent E.
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Portney, and Ken Thompson; J. David Greenstone; Theda Skocpol; and Robert
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Greenstein.
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These essays were initially presented at a conference held at Northwestern
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University in October, 1989, that was sponsored by the Social Science
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Research Council Committee For Research on the Urban Underclass, under a
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grant from the Rockefeller Foundation, and by Northwestern University
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Center For Urban Affairs and Policy Research. Christopher Jencks is
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professor of sociology and urban affairs at Northwestern University. His
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books include Who Gets Ahead (1979) Inequality (1972), and The Academic
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Revolution (1967). Paul E. Peterson, former director of the Governmental
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Studies Program at Brookings, is the Henry Lee Shattuck Professor of
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Government at Harvard University. Among his other Brookings publications
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are Welfare Magnets: A New Case for a National Standard (1990), Can the
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Government Govern? (1989), When Federalism Works (1987), and The New Urban
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Reality (1985).
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___________________________________________________________________________
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"The Urban Underclass," Christopher Jencks and Paul E. Peterson, editors.
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Published April 1991. 450 pages. Paper (ISBN 0 8157 4605 9), $12.95, or cloth
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(ISBN 0 8157 4606 7), $34.95.
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___________________________________________________________________________
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