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This bibliography is a comprehensive treatment of poverty in the United States. It summarizes the major economic, literary, sociological, historical, and other social-science literature written over the past century on this topic. In addition to general descriptions of the measurement, causes, and consequences of poverty, individual chapters address the history of poverty in the United States, the development of poverty measures and their limitations, the problems with the current U.S. welfare system as a means of reducing poverty. Individual Chapters also address the impoverishment of specific groups of Americans--women, children, minorities, residents of urban ghettos, and those who live in rural areas of the United States. The evaluations of individual contributions relate the writings to one another and provide a perspective on poverty and its prevention. Of particular interest to those concerned with education are Chapter 5, section d, "School Performance and Education," and Chapter 7, "The Poverty of Children," with sections on the consequences of childhood poverty and on policy solutions. Chapter 8, "The Poverty of Minorities," lists works that explore the poverty of minority populations and focus on specific minority groups and the problems of young families. In Chapter 13, a section on child and family allowances lists works that relate to nonwelfare antipoverty policy. Each entry contains an extensive annotation discussing content and emphases. (Author/SLD)