The Missing Middle: Working Families and the Future of American Social Policy (Century Foundation Books (Brookings Hardcover)) Book

An eye-opening look at how America's social policy has been hijacked by a rhetoric of extremes. In the opening pages of this powerful examination of American politics, Theda Skocpol reveals a curious pattern: politicians and advocates argue over programs for the very poor or tax cuts for the very rich; they worry over the costs of providing for our longer living grandparents and push programs that help children without helping their parents. With the spotlight on the youngest, the oldest, the richest, and the poorest, rarely do we find policies concerned with Americans in what Skocpol calls the "missing middle"--the average working parents of modest means on whom our society depends. Skocpol draws us into the history of this startling trend and reveals the polarized and fragmented debates that dominate our public life today. Taking lessons from the most successful social efforts in the past, Skocpol identifies ways the missing middle can reclaim social policy and offers exciting new goals for democracy in the coming century.Read More