Struggling in the Land of Plenty

At the conclusion of the twentieth century, the United States economy was booming, but, the gap between the rich and poor widened significantly in the 1990s, poverty rates among women and children skyrocketed, and there was an unprecedented rise in familial homelessness Based on a fouryear ethnographic study, Anne R. Roschelle examines how socially structured race, class, and gender inequality contributed to the rise in family homelessness and the devastating consequences for parents and their children. Struggling in the Land of Plenty analyzes the appalling conditions under which homeless women and children live, the violence endemic to their lives, the role of the welfare state in perpetrating poverty, and their never-ending struggle for survival. Only by exploring the stories of homeless women and children can we begin to construct appropriate social policy.