This wide-ranging and accessible survey of poverty in America examines every important facet of the issue, from historical and socioeconomic contributors to poverty to programs, policies, and ideas crafted to reduce income inequality and poverty across the USA. Coverage provides in-depth information for understanding the history of poverty, economic inequality, and social welfare in the United States, especially as they relate to ever-evolving currents of economic thought, political struggle, and societal change.

Important areas of coverage include the impact of depressions, recessions, economic "booms," and social welfare laws on poverty, as well as the socioeconomic ramifications of American-style capitalism. Other subject areas receiving extensive coverage include linkages between poverty and educational opportunity, job and housing security, transportation, and eligibility for social welfare assistance, and tax policy. Readers will also better understand longstanding racial and gender disparities in impoverishment and homelessness across the USA.

An array of complementary materials on poverty and economic inequality in America are also provided, including a suite of personal essays, a general bibliography, primary documents, glossary of terms, and chronology.