BEYOND WELFARE: Poverty in the Supercity

To declare war on poverty is not enough, Krosney argues in a book which with The Poorhouse State by Richard Elman (p. 955) gives evidence of a major reappraisal of current welfare programs which place both giver and recipient in an intolerable situation. If we might draw from the vocabulary of welfare's most strident critics, Krosney accuses Johnson of a ""no-win"" approach to the poor. Unlike the Kennedy-inspired programs, such as Mobilization for Youth and Harlem Youth Unlimited, the current programs do no more than attempt rehabilitation of the poor, when what is needed is establishment of self-help institutions in the ghettos by the ghetto people and for them. Krosney's case histories, the destruction of both Mobilization and Haryou by the debilitating acts of self-serving administrators and frightened bureaucrats, illustrate the death of real action against economic inequities. His frank appraisals of individuals will sting, but Krosney's suggestions for surcease of the welfare snowball will hurt even more. A ""negative income tax"" is what he calls for, a government subsidy to families earning less than a certain level each year. In that way, the welfare system, teetering on the brink of eight million recipients already, can be ended. Not a new suggestion, but coupled with his critique of the Poverty program and current welfare arrangements, the book is bound to make a splash in a wider circle than the social workers to whom it will immediately appeal.