At the conclusion of the twentieth century, the U.S. economy was booming, but the gap between the rich and poor widened significantly in the 1990s, poverty rates among women and children skyrocketed, and there was an unprecedented rise in familial homelessness. Based on a four-year ethnographic study, Anne R. Roschelle examines how socially structured race, class, and gender inequality contributed to the rise in family homelessness and the devastating consequences for parents and their children. Struggling in the Land of Plenty analyzes the appalling conditions under which homeless women and children live, the violence endemic to their lives, the role of the welfare state in perpetrating poverty, and their never-ending struggle for survival--back cover.

Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1. San Francisco: the best city on Earth -- 2. Home is where the [broken] heart is -- 3. The unraveling social safety net -- 4. The tattered web of kinship -- 5. Life's a bitch: the everyday struggle for survival -- 6. Paradise lost: the lived experiences of homeless kids -- Conclusion -- References -- Index -- About the author.