CHIDREN, POVERTY AND FAMILY ALLOWANCES

by James C. Vadakin ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 7, 1968

Fifteen million American children don't have enough to eat. They don't get proper clothing, medicine, or schooling. This bothers the American public mainly at Christmas-time. It worries economists, business, and government leaders all year round. Most of them advocate some form of income supplementation to the poor. Vadakin, an economist who helped Congressman Conyers write the Family Allowances Act passed by the House in 1967, here reviews the nature, purposes, and methods of family allowance programs, cites the results of such programs in other countries (particularly Canada), and evaluates their economic, demographic, political, and social welfare implications. He offers short, deft analyses of most of the current plans for a negative income tax or guaranteed income. Finally, he sets forth his own plan (similar to the Conyers Act) which would pay ten dollars monthly per child to all American mothers whose children attend school. The plan would cost about $8.6 billion annually and would be financed federally. Vadakin's plan is viable, though not necessarily the best available. His book, however, appears to be the most thorough and far-reaching study yet of family allowances. Like his previous study (Family Allowances: An Analysis of Their Development and Implications, 1958), Vadakin's new book is difficult. It is addressed to professionals and laymen with economic savvy. The foreword is by Daniel P. Moynihan, controversial director of the Joint Center for Urban Studies at MIT and Harvard.

Pub Date: July 7, 1968

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Basic Books

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1968

Categories: NONFICTION