Living on the Edge: The Realities of Welfare in America / Edition 1

by Mark Robert Rank

Overview

This acclaimed book powerfully depicts a side of the welfare experience rarely seen, dispelling the myth that only an urban underclass—the center of most policy debate—struggles on welfare. Rank's juxtaposition of numbers and faces demonstrates that welfare recipients share much in common with the rest of the population.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780231084253
Publisher:	Columbia University Press
Publication date:	05/25/1995
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	266
Product dimensions:	6.01(w) x 8.97(h) x 0.68(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Mark Robert Rank is a sociologist and associate professor in the George Warren Brown School of Social Work at Washington University, Saint Louis.

What People are Saying About This

Pat Schroeder

An excellent account of the welfare system in the United States.It debunks many of the most commonly believed myths about welfare.It is an essential read for anyone interested in welfare reform.

— Pat Schroeder, former U.S. Congresswoman

Editorial Reviews

Rank analyzes the several ways of interpreting poverty and the need for welfare, and provides an account of his research on what poor people actually do to make ends meet and how they think about it.... Perhaps most poignant is that many of the people Rank spoke with work hard only to lose ground, yet maintain a strong belief in upward mobility and the American dream.

New York Times

After ten years of intensive study of public welfare programs and welfare recipients, Mark Robert Rank has written a thoughtful book about poor people and their lives.... Rank argues that we have got it just about backward again. It turns out, he says, that a lot of assumptions about welfare are simply wrong.

Chicago Tribune

After ten years of intensive study of public welfare programs and welfare recipients, Mark Robert Rank has written a thoughtful book about poor people and their lives. . . . Rank argues that we have got it just about backward again. It turns out, he says, that a lot of assumptions about welfare are simply wrong.

Chicago Tribune

An excellent account of the welfare system in the United States.It debunks many of the most commonly believed myths about welfare.It is an essential read for anyone interested in welfare reform.

Pat Schroeder

Reporting on his ten-year study, Rank (social work, Washington U., St. Louis) shatters popular stereotypes by tracing families applying for, living on, and eventually leaving public assistance. He examines why people turn to welfare, what life on welfare is like, and how as a society we can address the problem. For background, he surveys the history of welfare in the US since Roosevelt. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

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