Poverty

Victor slouches into a bustling courtroom at Los Angeles County Children's Court. He would be tall, if he stood up straight, and broad, if his shoulders didn't follow his eyes to the floor. He doesn't look sullen or defiant. He just looks like a big kid, humble and out of place in this room full of busy grown-ups. When the judge glances up from her papers and smiles at him, he smiles back, just a bit.

At 19,… more

Douglas McGray writes about social and international issues, technology, and culture for Public Radio International's This American Life, The New York Times Magazine, The New York Times, The Atlantic Monthly, the Los Angeles Times, Foreign Policy, Wired, The Washington Post, Mother Jones and The Economist. His work has been profiled on the cover of Time Asia… more

New research reveals that California is dead last in bringing home the country's largest resource for working-poor families. By April 17, hundreds of thousands of Californians will miss out on applying for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC), a source of sizeable refunds that give a financial boost to those at the low end of the pay scale. Golden State residents leave almost $1 billion in federal funds unapplied for. California families pay a big price when they leave these… more

After three long years of war in Iraq, a growing number of Americans are deciding that the U.S. should turn its attention inward. An October poll found that since 2002 the percentage of Americans who think that the nation "should mind its own business internationally" has risen from 30% to 42%. Likewise, trade protectionism and nativism are on the rise. Is the United States destined to enter a period of isolationism? Probably not. That's because evangelical Christians, who make up… more

California first lady Maria Shriver, John Edwards and other political luminaries have converged on Los Angeles for a summit on California poverty. The organizers asked speakers to present ways to help California's poor that are "innovative, practical and achievable."

That's a tall order, but it's a timely one. California is at a crossroads in how it assists its less fortunate residents. We can limit ourselves to the old tools and policies. Or California can lead the country in the democratization… more

Last September's tragedy in New Orleans revealed, in the starkest manner, the soft underbelly of America's cities. After all the 1990s rhetoric insisting that "Cities are back!" we got a glimpse behind the facades of a major urban center and tourist mecca which revealed many utterly dependent and disorganized residents, looking more like Third Worlders than denizens of a modern metropolis. In the process, the urban liberalism that has dominated city administration for the last generation was unmasked.

Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, is a hub of oil and fishing industries on the Gulf of Mexico. The hamlets along its waterways rise in elevation and affluence as they increase in distance from the coast. Trailers, aluminum foil in their windows to beat back the sun, give way to communities screened by oak and cypress trees. One of the loveliest neighborhoods is Bayou Black. There are thoroughbreds on lawns there, and an alligator farm. The week's sole rush hour begins Saturday… more

The 1996 welfare reform law which created the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program gave states far more flexibility in determining the best ways to move their neediest families from dependence on cash assistance towards economic self-sufficiency. Policymakers have issued a series of short-term extensions to TANF in recent years while attempting to build a consensus on how it should be reauthorized. Therefore, an opportunity exists to build upon existing -- and incorporate new -- asset building strategies into… more

For $3.8 trillion, we should get more than this.

That's the combined expenditure of the federal, state and local governments in 2005, nearly a third of the national economy. And yet the results in New Orleans and the Gulf Coast speak for themselves: Warnings went unheeded, levees were neglected, cops and rescuers were short-shrifted.

At the root of problem is a deep failure in the vision of both left and right as to how government should work.… more

In a country as wealthy and technologically capable as the United States, there is no such thing as a simple natural disaster. Every disaster is also a social event, made up by human will and ingenuity--or neglect and indifference. Famines, famously, do not happen in democracies, because no matter how severe a drought or blight, only the voiceless and powerless are ever left to starve. Storms may sometimes wreck cities; but if they also claim thousands of… more