Includes bibliographical references.

In the robust economy of the 1990s, it is easy to forget the 37 million people, mostly women and children, living below the federal poverty level. [The author], a policy fellow at the Radcliffe Public Policy Institute, brings this issue to the forefront of the national debate. After all, she points out, poor women are raising a large part of the nation. [She] bases her research on years of observation and working relationships with poor women in community organizations. She chronicles the path of poverty in terms of life stages: from youth, where daughters help raise younger siblings; to adolescence, where girls become mothers themselves; to middle age, where the fortunate women rise above their situation, often by networking with one another. The strengths of this work are its clear analysis and its recommendations for concrete changes in public policy.-Library Journal.

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