Who Cares : The Social Safety Net in America

In Who Cares, Christopher Howard focuses on the poor and offers the first comprehensive map of the US social safety net. He chronicles what Americans say about poverty, and what we do about it, capturing the views of ordinary citizens, business and labor organizations, churches and other charities, and public officials. Although the US social safety net is extensive, Howard argues that major gaps remain, particularly impacting Blacks, Hispanics, and individuals who are not employed full-time. Emphasizing how we have spent many years investigating the poor, this book also shines a light on the behavior and views of the non-poor.

The first comprehensive map of the social safety net, public and private, in the United States. Societies are often judged by how they treat their most vulnerable members: the poor and near poor. In the United States, this responsibility belongs not only to governments, but also to charities, businesses, individuals, and family members. Their combined efforts generate a social safety net. In Who Cares, Christopher Howard offers the first comprehensive map of the US social safety net. He chronicles how different parts of American society talk about poverty-related needs. And he shows what Americans do to provide basic levels of income, food, housing, medical care, and daily care. Although the US social safety net is extensive, major gaps remain, particularly impacting Blacks, Hispanics, and individuals who are not employed full-time. Drawing heavily upon evidence from the years right before the Covid-19 pandemic, Howard demonstrates that these problems persist even when the economy seems healthy. Who Cares concludes with an initial assessment of how the social safety net performed during the pandemic.