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Science 27 April 1990:
Vol. 248. no. 4954, pp. 450 - 453
DOI: 10.1126/science.248.4954.450
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Articles

The Underclass: Definition and Measurement

Ronald B. Mincy 1, Isabel V. Sawhill 2, and Douglas A. Wolf 3

1 Research associate, The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
2 Senior fellow, The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037
3 Senior research associate, The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street, NW, Washington, DC 20037

The term "underclass" has been widely used by journalists and by some social scientists but, until recently, has not been clearly defined or quantified. Most of the recent quantitatively oriented literature on the topic has used a definition that emphasizes either the persistence ofpoverty or the number ofpeople living in neighborhoods where the incidence ofpoverty or dysfunctional behavior is high. Conclusions about the size and growth of the underclass are sensitive to the definition chosen, but most available evidence suggests that it is small but growing.


THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES:
Myths about Race and the Underclass: Concentrated Poverty and "Underclass" Behaviors.
Y. Alex-Assensoh (1995)
Urban Affairs Review 31, 3-19
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Watching the defectives: Observers of the underclass in the USA, Britain and Austialia.
K. Mann (1994)
Critical Social Policy 14, 79-99
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Aggressive, Depressive, and Prosocial Coping with Affective Challenges in Early Adolescence.
E. A. Blechman and S. E. Culhane (1993)
The Journal of Early Adolescence 13, 361-382
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The Underclass, 'Social Isolation' and 'Concentration Effects': 'The culture of poverty' revisited.
A. H. Maxwell (1993)
Critique of Anthropology 13, 231-245
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The Culture ofAchievementAmong the Poor: The case of mothers and children in a Head Start program.
D. J. Jones (1993)
Critique of Anthropology 13, 247-266
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Problematizing the Notion of Puerto Ricans as "Underclass": A Step Toward a Decolonizing Study of Poverty.
A. Darder (1992)
Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences 14, 144-156
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Grade Retention and School Adjustment: An Explanatory Analysis.
A. J. Reynolds (1992)
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis 14, 101-121
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"Underclass": Problems with the Term.
H. J. Gans (1990)
Science 248, 1472
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