'Escape from Poverty' addresses the recent increase of child poverty within the USA, by examining implications for the impoverished young and calling for specific modes of change in maternal employment, child care, father involvement, and access to health care.

1. Whose responsibility? An historical analysis of the changing role of mothers, fathers, and society P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale and Maris A. Vinovskis; 2. The life circumstances and development of children in welfare families Nicholas Zill, Kristin Moore, Ellen Wolpow Smith, Thomas Stief, and Mary Jo Coiro; 3. Welfare to work through the eyes of children Julie Boatright Wilson, David Ellwood and Jeanne Brooks-Gunn; 4. Strategies for altering the outcomes of poor children and their families Jeanne Brooks-Gunn; 5. Policy issues of child care Andrew J. Cherlin; 6. Child care and children of color Margaret Beale Spencer, Janet Blumenthal and Elizabeth Richards; 7. Health policy in the Family Support Act of 1988 Katherine S. Lobach; 8. Economic issues of health care Barbara L. Wolfe; 9. Dealing with Dads: the changing roles of fathers Frank J. Furstenberg Jr; 10. The effects of child support reform on child well-being Irwin Garfinkel and Sara McLanahan; 11. Losing ground or moving ahead: welfare reform and children Ron Haskins; 12. National surveys as data resources for public policy research on poor children Nicholas Zill; 13. An interdisciplinary model for studying poor children Timothy M. Smeeding; 14. Two generation programs: a new intervention strategy and directions for future Sheila Smith.