Poverty, by America

A searing study of American poverty from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Evicted

The United States is the richest country on earth, yet has more poverty than any other advanced democracy.

One in seven Americans live below the poverty line, a line which hasn't shifted over the last fifty years, despite the efforts of successive governments.

Why is there so much scarcity in this land of dollars?

In Poverty, by America, acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond examines American poverty today and the stories we tell ourselves about it. Spanning social isolation, mass incarceration, the housing crisis, domestic violence, crack and opioid epidemics, welfare cuts and more, Desmond argues that poverty does not result from a lack of resources or good policy ideas. We already know how to eliminate it. The hard part is getting more of us to care.