Down and Out in America

The most accurate and comprehensive picture of homelessness to date, this study offers a powerful explanation of its causes, proposes short- and long-term solutions, and documents the striking contrasts between the homeless of the 1950s and 1960s and the contemporary homeless population, which is younger and contains more women, children, and blacks.

Peter H. Rossi is Stuart A. Rice Professor of Sociology and Director of the Social and Demographic Research Institute at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.

Preface 1. On the Bottom and Out on the Fringe 2. The New Homeless and the Old 3. Counting the Homeless and the Extremely Poor 4. The Condition of the Homeless and the Extremely Poor: Location and Economic Circumstances 5. The Demography of Homelessness and Extreme Poverty 6. Vulnerability to Homelessness 7. Why We Have Homelessness and Extreme Poverty and What to Do about Them Appendix A. Annotated Bibliography of the Combined Homeless Studies and Studies on the Extremely Poor Appendix B. The Design of the Chicago Homeless Study References Index