Social Poverty: Low-Income Parents and the Struggle for Family and Community Ties

How low-income people cope with the emotional dimensions of poverty

Could a lack of close, meaningful social ties be a public--rather than just a private--problem? In Social Poverty, Sarah Halpern-Meekin provides a much-needed window into the nature of social ties among low-income, unmarried parents, highlighting their often-ignored forms of hardship. Drawing on in-depth interviews with thirty-one couples, collected during their participation in a government-sponsored relationship education program called Family Expectations, she brings unprecedented attention to the relational and emotional dimensions of socioeconomic disadvantage.

Poverty scholars typically focus on the economic use value of social ties--for example, how relationships enable access to job leads, informal loans, or a spare bedroom.However, Halpern-Meekin introduces the important new concept of "social poverty," identifying it not just as a derivative of economic poverty, but as its own condition, which also perpetuates poverty. Through a careful and nuanced analysis of the strengths and limitations of relationship classes, she shines a light on the fundamental place of core socioemotional needs in our lives.
Engaging and compassionate, Social Poverty highlights a new direction for policy and poverty research that can enrich our understanding of disadvantaged families around the country.

Author: Sarah Halpern-Meekin
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 06/04/2019
Pages: 320
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.00lbs
Size: 8.90h x 6.00w x 0.90d
ISBN: 9781479816897

Review Citation(s):
Choice 11/01/2019

About the Author
Halpern-Meekin, Sarah: - Sarah Halpern-Meekin is Associate Professor of Human Development and Family Studies in the School of Human Ecology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is the co-author of It's Not Like I'm Poor: How Working Families Make Ends Meet in a Post-Welfare World. She received her PhD in sociology from Harvard University in 2009.