Prepared biennially since 1988 by the Economic Policy Institute, this work includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, taxes, unemployment, wealth and poverty, allowing the authors to examine the effect of the economy on the living standards of the American people.

Examines the impact of the economy on the living standards of the American people over the post-World War II. Comprises seven chapters which cover: family income; wages; employment, unemployment; wealth; income distribution and poverty; regional disparities; and international comparisons.

From Reviews of Previous Editions— "The State of Working America remains unrivaled as the most-trusted source for a comprehensive understanding of how working Americans and their families are faring in today's economy."—Robert B. Reich "It is the inequality of wealth, argue the authors, rather than new technology (as some would have it), that is responsible for the failure of America’s workplace to keep pace with the country’s economic growth. The State of Working America is a well-written, soundly argued, and important reference book."—Library Journal "An indispensable work on family income, wages, taxes, employment, and the distribution of wealth."—New York Review of Books Since 1988, The State of Working America has provided a comprehensive answer to a question newly in vogue in this age of Occupy Wall Street: To what extent has overall economic growth translated into rising living standards for the vast majority of American workers and their families? In the 12th edition, Lawrence Mishel, Josh Bivens, Elise Gould, and Heidi Shierholz analyze a trove of data on income, jobs, mobility, poverty, wages, and wealth to demonstrate that rising economic inequality over the past three decades has decoupled overall economic growth from growth in the living standards of the vast majority. The new edition of The State of Working America also expands on this analysis of American living standards, most notably by placing the Great Recession in historical context. The severe economic downturn that began in December 2007 came on the heels of a historically weak recovery following the 2001 recession, a recovery that saw many measures of living standards stagnate. The authors view the past decade as "lost" in terms of living standards growth, and warn that millions of American households face another decade of lost opportunity. Especially troubling, the authors stress, is that while overall economic performance in the decades before the Great Recession was more than sufficient to broadly raise living standards, broad-based growth was blocked by rising inequality driven largely by policy choices. A determinedly data-driven narrative, The State of Working America remains the most comprehensive resource about the economic experience of working Americans.

Prepared biennally since 1988, 'The State of Working America' includes a wide variety of data on family incomes, wages, taxes, unemployment, wealth and poverty - data that enable the authors to closely examine the effect of the economy on the living standards of the American people.

Like past editions, this ninth edition of Social Inequality: Forms, Causes, and Consequences is a user-friendly introduction to the study of social inequality. This book conveys the pervasiveness and extensiveness of social inequality in the United States within a comparative context, to show how inequality occurs, how it affects all of us, and what is being done about it. This edition benefits from a variety of changes that have significantly strengthened the text. The authors pay increased attention to disability, transgender issues, intersectionality, experiences of Muslims, Hispanic populations, and immigration. The 9th edition also includes content on the fall-out from the recession across various groups. The sections on global inequalities have been greatly updated, emphasizing comparative inequalities and the impact of the process of globalization on inequality internationally. The authors have also added material on several current social movements, including Occupy Wall Street, Black Lives Matter, and Marriage Equality.

This vital book examines recent research on poverty and inequality, identifies strategies for ensuring adequate services, and challenges many of the inaccurate beliefs that were used to justify welfare reform legislation in 1996. You'll find up-to-date information on various marginalized groups and their social problems, including lack of health coverage for women with mental health, substance abuse, and domestic violence problems. In addition, you'll find data on the health coverage situation for the poor, for Appalachians, and for women in general. Finally, Rediscovering the Other America: The Continuing Crisis of Poverty and Inequality in the United States suggests strategies for changing public perceptions about the nature of poverty and the poor.

The fifth edition of this well-regarded text covers the period up through the 2012 elections. It has been revised to make it sleeker, more concise, and up-to-date with a clear organisational structure. This edition accomplishes these three important goals: First, it introduces readers to the American approach to public policy making as it has been shaped by our political institutions, changing circumstances, and ideology. Second, it surveys American public policy and policymaking in all the major policy areas from economic policy to health care policy to environmental policy, and does so clearly and even-handedly, with well-selected illustrations, case studies, terms, and study questions. Finally, in addition to providing analytical tools and empirical information, the book challenges readers to come to terms with the widely shared but often competing values that must be balanced and rebalanced in the ongoing policy making process, affecting issues of the highest concern to the American public.

Following its publication in hardcover, the critically acclaimed Betrayal of Work became one of the most influential policy books about economic life in America; it was discussed in the pages of Newsweek, Business Week, Fortune, the Washington Post, Newsday, and USA Today, as well as in public policy journals and in broadcast interviews, including a one-on-one with Bill Moyers on PBS's NOW. The American Prospect's James K. Galbraith's praise was typical: “Shulman's slim and graceful book is a model combination of compelling portraiture, common sense, and understated conviction.” Beth Shulman's powerfully argued book offers a full program to address the injustice faced by the 30 million Americans who work full time but do not make a living wage. As the influential Harvard Business School newsletter put it, Shulman “specifically outlines how structural changes in the economy may be achieved, thus expanding opportunities for all Americans.” This edition includes a new afterword that intervenes in the post-election debate by arguing that low-wage work is an urgent moral issue of our time.

The first interdisciplinary reference to cover the socioeconomic and political history, the movements, and the changing face of poverty in the United States. Poverty in the United States: An Encyclopedia of History, Politics, and Policy follows the history of poverty in the United States with an emphasis on the 20th century, and examines the evolvement of public policy and the impact of critical movements in social welfare such as the New Deal, the War on Poverty, and, more recently, the "end of welfare as we know it." Encompassing the contributions of hundreds of experts, including historians, sociologists, and political scientists, this resource provides a much broader level of information than previous, highly selective works. With approximately 300 alphabetically-organized topics, it covers topics and issues ranging from affirmative action to the Bracero Program, the Great Depression, and living wage campaigns to domestic abuse and unemployment. Other entries describe and analyze the definitions and explanations of poverty, the relationship of the welfare state to poverty, and the political responses by the poor, middle-class professionals, and the policy elite.

Extensively revised, the second edition of The New Class Society includes innovative new sections and concepts throughout the book that identify and explore how complex organizational structures and actions create and perpetuate class, gender, and racial inequalities. The authors describe how 'inequality scripts' shape the hiring and promotion practices of organizations in ways that provide differential opportunities to people based on class, gender, and racial memberships. The authors also illustrate how privileged class members benefit from organizationally-based and perpetuated forms of inequality. The second edition retains its provocative argument for of an emerging 'double-diamond' social structure and its focus on class interests that are rapidly polarizing American society. New figures, tables, and references incorporate the latest information and research findings to document and illustrate key topics, such as the distribution of wealth and income, globalization, downsizing, contingent labor, the role of money in politics, media content and consolidation, the transformation of education, and the erosion of democracy. The second edition combines scholarship with an engaging style and flashes of comic relief-with several cartoons by some of the best satirists today. The book, accessibly written for undergraduate students, has been widely adopted in courses on stratification, economic sociology, and American society.