"Between 1996 and 2017, the number of families on welfare declined to less than a quarter of its former rate of coverage, yet nearly twice as many households live in extreme poverty and nearly 25 percent of American children live in poverty. What can be done to help these children and families escape poverty? Are government programs like welfare the best solution, or are there other ways to pull families out of poverty? This volume looks at the issue of poverty, the various theories about why it proliferates, and a number of proposed strategies to fight it"--Provided by the publisher.

Should the government end welfare entitlements? -- Overview: US poverty and inequality overview and trends / John Wihbey -- Yes: welfare entitlements create a culture of dependency -- Welfare programs do more harm than good / Arthur C. Brooks -- Education, not entitlements, is the best way out of poverty / Caroline Polk -- Private charity is more flexible and generous than government welfare / Michael Tanner and Tad DeHaven -- No: welfare is necessary because of income inequality -- The proof is in the pudding: welfare programs reduce poverty / Jana Kasperkevic -- Battling the common myths of poverty and behavior / Christopher Jencks and Kathryn Edin -- Welfare reform celebrates many successes / Kay S. Hymowitz -- Is word-gap theory a solution to the poverty cycle? -- Overview: empowering underprivileged children through education / Maya Shankar -- Yes: word-gap empowers parents to find learning opportunities at home -- Children perform better when parents are more involved / Rachel Williams -- Talk is vital to a child's brain development / Cory Turner -- One city's success story with closing the word-gap / Elizabeth Mann Levesque -- No: word-gap is based on groundless evidence / Leah Durn -- Word-gap theory is culturally offensive / Gulnaz Saiyed and Natalia Smirnov -- Music is another way to help improve kids' language / Cory Turner -- Low-income students need better school funding, not a better vocabulary / US Department of Education -- Is poverty more closely related to behavior than economics? -- Overview: the role of behavior in economics / Eshe Nelson -- Yes: money lessens poverty, but does nothing to change behavior -- Welfare recipients need to spend money on food, not drugs / Alan Greenblatt -- Welfare alone cannot lift recipients out of poverty / James A. Dorn -- No: bad behaviors are a result of poverty, not a cause of poverty -- Poverty has debilitating physical and mental effects / Cynthia Boyd -- Drug-testing welfare recipients is demeaning and a waste of money / Samuel Brookfield -- Government aid programs keep the poor in poverty / Charles Johnson -- Will overcoming learned helplessness end the culture of poverty? -- Overview: the cycle of poverty can lead to learned helplessness / Kendra Cherry -- Yes: overcoming learned helplessness can empower and motivate the poor -- Having the right mindset can lift an American out of poverty / Pam Fessler -- Poverty affects classroom engagement / Eric Jensen -- The science of learned helplessness / Scott Santens -- No: poverty is not a state of mind or a choice -- Poverty is a product of underserved neighborhoods / Anok -- The myth of the government-provided safety net / Chris Velasco.