Engaging and accessible, The Entrepreneurial Solution to Poverty and the Science of What is Possible examines the systematic practice of poverty alleviation. Using the science of informational economics (IE), based on leveraging specific information, as well as decades' worth of experimental evidence, James Fiet demonstrates how poverty may be mitigated through entrepreneurial practices. This visionary book suggests a number of key practical methods by which poverty can be alleviated, even without resources or personal connections. Classifying IE as 'the science of what is possible', Fiet demonstrates how to substitute information - the lowest common denominator of what individuals already possess or can acquire - for resources. The book employs 30 years of experimental results as the basis for its entrepreneurial approach to poverty alleviation, inviting its readers to extend the science of what is possible and succeed regardless of their circumstances. Holding the potential to alter how work is approached and carried out in the area of poverty alleviation, the innovative ideas explored in this book will be of significant interest and inspiration to researchers and students, but also beyond academia to government agencies, foundations, and charities, as well as individuals and organizations invested in solving the problem of poverty.

Skills and inequality have long been a central theme in analyses of social structure and economic development. A Research Agenda for Skills and Inequality offers an insightful cross-disciplinary framework for research on how unequal living conditions form, persist and change in interplay with human skill formation and development. Drawing on prominent new advances in the field, this incisive Research Agenda builds a forward-thinking framework for research. Spanning an extensive eighteen chapters, each examining a specific but major aspect of the general theme of skills and inequality, the book provides a comprehensive overview of links between the two. Against the backdrop of established insights from related but separate fields of inquiry, including economics, sociology, demography, human resource management, political science, philosophy and psychology, the Research Agenda presents an exciting overview of recent advances in analyses of skills and inequality. Opening vistas for future research based on extensive literature reviews and new findings, this Research Agenda offers compact, ground-breaking essays for students, policy makers, and advanced researchers in many disciplines including social policy, business management, and employment relations.

What if the idealized image of American society-a land of opportunity that will reward hard work with economic success-is completely wrong? Few topics have as many myths, stereotypes, and misperceptions surrounding them as that of poverty in America. The poor have been badly misunderstood since the beginnings of the country, with the rhetoric only ratcheting up in recent times. Our current era of fake news, alternative facts, and media partisanship has led to a breeding ground for all types of myths and misinformation to gain traction and legitimacy. Poorly Understood is the first book to systematically address and confront many of the most widespread myths pertaining to poverty. Mark Robert Rank, Lawrence M. Eppard, and Heather E. Bullock powerfully demonstrate that the realities of poverty are much different than the myths; indeed in many ways they are more disturbing. The idealized image of American society is one of abundant opportunities, with hard work being rewarded by economic prosperity. But what if this picture is wrong? What if poverty is an experience that touches the majority of Americans? What if hard work does not necessarily lead to economic well-being? What if the reasons for poverty are largely beyond the control of individuals? And if all of the evidence necessary to disprove these myths has been readily available for years, why do they remain so stubbornly pervasive? These are much more disturbing realities to consider because they call into question the very core of America's identity. Armed with the latest research, Poorly Understood not only challenges the myths of poverty and inequality, but it explains why these myths continue to exist, providing an innovative blueprint for how the nation can move forward to effectively alleviate American poverty.

Foreword by Timothy M. (Tim) Smeeding, Founding Director of the Luxembourg Income Study and Lee Rainwater Distinguished Professor of Public Affairs and Economics, University of Wisconsin, US This insightful book addresses the urgent need for robust evidence on recent trends and factors contributing to poverty and inequality in East Asia. Using data from international projects, including the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), as well as national data, expert contributors monitor trends in poverty and inequality within and between countries, while also identifying the factors that are driving them, both nationally and regionally. Chapters explore labour market and demographic developments, changes in family and household structures and roles, and changes in policy settings. Investigating how these factors act both independently and interactively to generate nationally and regionally unique features of poverty and inequality, the book highlights how inequality has been rising on a global scale and suggests how welfare states should respond. Poverty and Inequality in East Asia will be a valuable resource for researchers and students studying Asian development and social policy, comparative social policy, labour policy and family policy. Drawing on state of the art data to compare experiences in selected Western economies against those in East Asia, the book will also be a useful resource for policy makers.

On the 80th anniversary of Beveridge's report on the 'Five Giants' confronting societal progress in the 1940s, this innovative book examines the 'New Giants' confronting us today: inequality, preventable mortality, the crisis of democracy, job quality, and environmental degradation. Ian Greener uses Qualitative Comparative Analysis and cluster analysis across 24 countries to analyse which countries are the highest performing in relation to each of the New Giants, and what they have in common. The book indicates that confronting the New Giants requires more participative modes of governance, as well as a greater commitment to redistributing wealth and achieving higher levels of education. Greener also highlights how higher levels of globalization, so long as they are combined with these factors, can be compatible with confronting the New Giants. The book further considers how these factors combined in countries with lower levels of mortality in the first six months of the Covid-19 pandemic. This will be critical reading for social policy and politics scholars and policy makers interested in comparative analysis. The clear explanation of the research methods used in the book will be useful to advanced level students and researchers in the field.

Families and Children Living in Poverty explores the factors that contribute to the existence of poverty, as well as the social, developmental, and environmental ramifications of poverty. Through scholarly studies, case studies, historical events, and contemporary happenings, readers examine the connections between poverty and family-related challenges, including adverse childhood experiences, lack of a living wage, health disparities, social exclusion, and homelessness. Part I of the text explores poverty and social class inequality. The chapters discuss how poverty is measured in the United States, the role of capitalism in poverty, global health challenges, and the economic effects of conflict. In Part II, students learn about health disparities caused by chronic stress, food insecurity, lack of dental health, exposure to pollutants, and human trafficking, as well as the wide-spread implications of adverse childhood experiences. Part III focuses on housing instability, homelessness, and social exclusion. The final part illuminates various programs and resources available for impoverished families and children, and demonstrates how individuals, researchers, and institutions can create lasting positive change within affected communities. Presenting valuable research and various theoretical frameworks through which to examine poverty, Families and Children Living in Poverty is an ideal text for courses in human development, family studies, and other social sciences. It is also an exemplary resource for helping professionals who support the care and well-being of children and families.

Agricultural workers have long been underrepresented in labour history. This volume aims to change this by bringing together a collection of studies on the largest group of the global work force. The contributions cover the period from the early modern to the present - a period when the emergence and consolidation of capitalism has transformed rural areas all over the globe. Three questions have guided the approach and the structure of this volume. First, how and why have peasant families managed to survive under conditions of advancing commercialisation and industrialisation? Second, why have coercive labour relations been so persistent in the agricultural sector and third, what was the role of states in the recruitment of agricultural workers? Contributors are: Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk, Josef Ehmer, Katherine Jellison, Juan Carmona, James Simpson, Sophie Elpers, Debojyoti Das, Lozaan Khumbah, Karl Heinz Arenz, Leida Fernandez-Prieto, Rachel Kurian, Rafael Marquese, Bruno Gabriel Witzel de Souza, Rogerio Naques Faleiros, Alessandro Stanziani, Alexander Keese, Dina Bolokan, and Janina Puder.

This timely book introduces a fresh perspective on youth unemployment by analysing it as a global phenomenon. Continuously-escalating rates of youth unemployment have become endemic, normalised features of contemporary society. Ross Fergusson and Nicola Yeates argue that only by incorporating analysis of the dynamics of the global economy and global governance can we make convincing, comprehensive sense of these developments. The authors present new substantial evidence spanning a century pointing to the strong relationships between youth unemployment, globalisation, economic crises and consequent harms to young people's social and economic welfare worldwide. The book notably encompasses data and analysis spanning the Global South as well as the Global North. The authors' innovative exploration is holistic in approach and committed to analyses that span histories, territories, academic disciplines and policy contexts. Providing new statistical examination of the incidence, distribution, impacts and putative causes, this book presents a highly original interpretation of youth unemployment and its global governance. It calls for urgently-needed robust responses on a global scale. Global Youth Unemployment is essential reading for students and academics within the fields of social, labour, public and economic policy as well as policy makers within the youth employment and unemployment sectors.

This important Research Handbook explores the nexus between human rights, poverty and inequality as a critical lens for understanding and addressing key challenges of the coming decades, including the objectives set out in the Sustainable Development Goals. The Research Handbook starts from the premise that poverty is not solely an issue of minimum income and explores the profound ways that deprivation and distributive inequality of power and capability relate to economic, social, cultural, civil and political rights. Leading experts in the human rights field representing a range of disciplines outline a future research agenda to address poverty and inequality head on. Beginning with an interrogation of the definition of poverty, subsequent chapters analyse the dynamics of poverty and inequality in relation to matters such as race, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, geography and migration status. The rights to housing, land, health, work, education, protest and access to justice are also explored, with a recognition of the challenges posed by corruption, climate change and new technologies. The Research Handbook on Human Rights and Poverty is an essential reference guide for those who teach in these areas and for scholars and students developing future research agendas of their own. This will also be a much-needed resource for people working practically to address poverty in both the Global North and Global South.

The neoliberal policy response to the crisis in Ghana did not succeed in reversing the economic decline in both the medium and long term. In fact, quite the opposite, rather than undoing the economic decline, Frimpong argues that the policy prescriptions further weakened the country's ability to develop. This is because the policies intentionally and unintentionally encouraged factors that destabilised the possibility of the real productive assets to earn commensurate returns to facilitate the flow of capital to the real sectors to ensure the survival of industrial enterprises. Rising profit in the financial sector incentivised financial capitalist to divert capital into financial assets at the expense of productive investment, further decelerating the pace of real capital accumulation in the country.

Rural poverty encompasses a distinctive deprivation in quality of life related to a lack of educational support and resources as well as unique issues related to geographical, cultural, community, and social isolation. While there have been many studies and accommodations made for the impoverished in urban environments, those impoverished in rural settings have been largely overlooked and passed over by current policy. The Handbook of Research on Leadership and Advocacy for Children and Families in Rural Poverty is an essential scholarly publication that creates awareness and promotes action for the advocacy of children and families in rural poverty and recommends interdisciplinary approaches to support the cognitive, social, and emotional needs of children and families in poverty. Featuring a wide range of topics such as mental health, foster care, and public policy, this book is ideal for academicians, counselors, social workers, mental health professionals, early childhood specialists, school psychologists, administrators, policymakers, researchers, and students.

In her extraordinary bestseller, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc immerses readers in the intricacies of the ghetto, revealing the true sagas lurking behind the headlines of gangsta glamour, gold-drenched drug dealers, and street-corner society. Focusing on two romances--Jessica's dizzying infatuation with a hugely successful young heroin dealer, Boy George, and Coco's first love with Jessica's little brother, Cesar--"Random Family" is the story of young people trying to outrun their destinies. Jessica and Boy George ride the wild adventure between riches and ruin, while Coco and Cesar stick closer to the street, all four caught in a precarious dance between survival and death. Friends get murdered; the DEA and FBI investigate Boy George; Cesar becomes a fugitive; Jessica and Coco endure homelessness, betrayal, the heartbreaking separation of prison, and, throughout it all, the insidious damage of poverty.
Charting the tumultuous cycle of the generations--as girls become mothers, boys become criminals, and hope struggles against deprivation--LeBlanc slips behind the cold statistics and sensationalism and comes back with a riveting, haunting, and true story.

How is it that rural poverty in southern Tanzania appears both easy to explain and yet also mystifying? Why is it that 'development' is such a touchstone, when actual attempts at fostering development have been largely ephemeral and/or unpopular for decades? In this book, Felicitas Becker traces dynamics of rural poverty based on the exportation of foodstuffs rather than the better-known problems connected to exportation of migrant labour, and examines what has kept the development industry going despite its failure to break these dynamics. Becker argues that development planners often exaggerated their prospects to secure funding, repackaged old strategies as new to maintain their promise, and shifted blame onto rural Africans for failing to meet the expectations they had raised. But the rural poor, too, pursued conversations on the causes and morality of poverty and wealth. Despite their dependence and deprivation, officials found repeatedly that they could not take them for granted.

The gap between various social classes occurs due to inequality in various social categories arising from lack of opportunities and exclusion from resource distribution due to various attributes of these societal classifications. The social problems of poverty and inequality created by economic uncertainty become a compelling force for states to introduce welfare programs. Reshaping Social Policy to Combat Poverty and Inequality is a critical scholarly publication that delivers extensive coverage of policy practice and a unique emphasis on the broad issues and human dilemmas inherent in the pursuit of social justice. The book further explores how the economic fluctuations and political change interact with shifting social values to shape and re-shape social policies. Highlighting a range of topics such as economics, discrimination, and sustainable development, this book is essential for policymakers, academicians, researchers, social psychologists, sociologists, government officials, and students.