-[A]n outstanding resource and an essential purchase for both academic and special libraries. Without a doubt, this set is one of the most important social science reference books published this year. —American Reference Books Annual

-Arrighi and Maume present, over the course of four volumes, around 40 interdisciplinary papers examining the demographic, political, economic, and social contexts of persistent child poverty in America. Recurrent themes that cut across the chapters include an emphasis on structural factors such as racial and ethnic residential segregation or gender-based occupational segregation, problems in measuring and defining poverty, the necessity to more directly measure economic hardship, the need for child poverty analyses to take into account how race and ethnicity impact the experience and dynamics of child poverty, how neighborhood race-ethnic and household composition characteristics interact and impact child poverty, and the deep relationship between child poverty and women's poverty. —Reference & Research Book News

-This four-volume encyclopedia is a collection of essays from a wide variety of disciplines addressing issues of child care, health, education, and government policies toward child poverty in the US....In these well-researched essays, child experts show that without attention to job training, fair wages, adequate health care, and strong early and K-12 education, the US will continue to lead the industrial nations in child poverty. Comparisons with Europe, where free education and health care for 3-6-year-olds is provided, put the US to shame. The essays are concise and clear, with a few geared toward professionals only. Useful as a reference source for all who are interested in child poverty in the US. Recommended. All levels/libraries. —Choice