OPINION: One of the obstacles that black schoolchildren must overcome is the belief, even among sympathetic educators, that the disadvantages they face are insurmountable and they cannot excel academically. In reality, good teaching, not race, determines the difference between failure and success. »
Saving the middle class
OPINION: U.S. productivity has nearly doubled in a generation, yet the workers who once earned decent wages for their contribution to the nation’s output are now working equally hard for lower incomes. The problem is that the fruits of increased productivity have gone to the wrong people. Labor unions should be one agent of the »
Social pathologies contribute to growing underclass
OPINION: Behavior does indeed contribute to poverty. Drug abuse, single parenthood, and high incarceration rates all contribute to a cycle of poverty that leaves families devastated and communities debilitated. Solutions, however, remain complex and elusive. The United States needs a forthright discussion of the social causes of poverty and various measures that are—and are not—solutions. »
Social immobility a greater problem than income inequality
While the conflict between rich and poor has dominated political rhetoric, sluggish social mobility is a greater threat to the American dream. The country is becoming more stratified. and improving one’s economic standing is harder than ever. Recent studies find 65 percent of Americans born into the bottom one-fifth of income stay in the bottom »
Childhood poverty: A health crisis
More than one in five children in the United States is poor, an 18 percent increase since 2000. Children who grow up in poverty experience dramatic setbacks in health, development and education, and these early disadvantages resonate into their adult lives, often with devastating results. In particular, poor children often suffer a plethora of health »
Maine residents struggle to heat their homes
The federal government has reduced spending on its energy-assistance program for the poor, partly to cut spending, partly to push U.S. energy consumption toward cleaner sources. These changes have been devastating to low-income residents in Maine, where winters are bitter, the housing stock is old, and most communities are rural. Photo credit: Nicole Bengiveno »