Includes bibliographical references (p. 311-340) and index.

Spatial concentration of American poverty: should we care, and what are the options? -- Why society should care about poverty -- National poverty and economic growth -- Person- vs. place-based policy -- Overview of this book -- Recent spatial poverty trends in America -- Patterns and trends in state poverty -- Patterns and trends in county poverty rates -- Demographic patterns and trends in county poverty -- County patterns in employment growth -- Conclusions -- Regional economic performance and poverty : what's the theoretical connection? -- Interregional equilibrium and disequilibrium perspectives on poverty -- Regionally asymmetric labor demand shocks and poverty : the role of migration and commuting -- Labor demand and metropolitan poverty : the spatial mismatch hypothesis -- Rural labor demand and poverty -- Poverty and regional labor supply shifts -- Summary and conclusions -- An empirical analysis of state poverty trends : welfare reform vs. economic growth : empirical evidence at the national level -- State-level empirical studies of labor demand and poverty -- Welfare reform and poverty -- Empirical model -- Regression results -- Simulation of individual effects -- Conclusion -- State economic performance, welfare reform, and poverty : case studies from four states -- Regression sample period analysis -- Case study epilogue : post-2000 trends -- Conclusions -- County employment growth and poverty -- Why examine counties or metropolitan areas? -- Conceptual model of county poverty -- Empirical model of county poverty rates -- Empirical assessment of local poverty : local attributes -- Employment growth and poverty -- Neighboring county spillovers -- Poverty responses across key demographic groups -- Summary of overall county findings -- Conclusion -- Poverty in metropolitan America -- Trends in 1989 and 1999 metropolitan area poverty rates -- Poverty rates by metropolitan size -- Regression analysis of MSA poverty rates -- Suburban/central county poverty rate disparities -- Case studies of metropolitan poverty trends -- A policy framework to alleviate metropolitan poverty -- Conclusion -- Poverty in rural America -- What is different about rural or nonmetropolitan counties? -- Characteristics of high and low poverty rate rural counties -- Changes in 1989-1999 rural poverty rates -- Rural regression findings -- Rural poverty and proximity to metro areas -- Case study : Scotts Bluff County, Nebraska -- Policy implications for fighting rural poverty -- Summary -- How to win the local poverty war -- Synopsis -- Policy recommendations.