Ebook: Fulfilling America's Promise: Social Policies for the 1990s

As medical costs skyrocket, fully 15 percent of Americans are without health care insurance. Almost two and a half million eligible households receive no housing assistance. U.S. public school children score little better than Third World students on achievement tests. Despite the staggering proportions of such problems, the federal government now devotes a smaller share of the total budget to social programs other than social security than it did ten years ago. In this timely volume, leading analysts tackle federal policy on social welfare and formulate an innovative agenda for the decade ahead. In nine previously unpublished essays, they address current policies in education, health insurance, welfare, low-income housing, health care and pensions for older Americans, and aid to the poor of other nations. Concluding chapters show how limited resources can finance more effective social policies, and assess the political prospects for policy reform.