Our Kids

March 16, 2015
In this ambitious study, Putnam expands his analysis of America's social breakdown from 2001's Bowling Alone to 21st-century upward mobility, though his interpretation seems somewhat muddled by nostalgia for the idea that the 1950s were a paradise of class parity. He states that, though 95% of Americans still endorse "equal opportunity" in principle, increasing ghettoization of neighborhoods by class has yielded a two-tier social system and widening opportunity gap for children that's largely independent of cultural ideology. The gap begins at birth, and may be insurmountable by school age. Extended interviews with people who grew up rich and poor in the author's hometown of Port Clinton, Ohio, both in the 1950s and more recently, provide perspective but feel as much positioned to pull at the heartstrings as to serve as data. Though Putnam gives solutions less attention than problems, he recommends expanding the EITC and child tax credit, protecting anti-poverty programs to reduce financial and emotional stress for families, reducing sentencing for non-violent crime to keep two-parent households intact, investing extra money in schools in poor neighborhoods, and killing "pay to play" extracurriculars. Putnam's points about the changes in American society in the last few generations are strong, but his utter dismissal of the independent effects of race and educational level may infuriate more intersectional scholars.

March 15, 2015

Putnam, a renowned scientist, leading humanist, and author of numerous books on public policy issues, such as Bowling Alone, makes the case that fewer Americans today have the opportunity for upward mobility compared to those who grew up in the 1950s. Beginning with his own experience in Port Clinton, OH, in the Fifties, the author uses data from publicly available research and interviews. The interviews feature a cross-section of rich and poor young adults and their parents from various communities, urban and suburban; although one wonders about the challenges of rural America. The author makes the point that "All trends reported...are based on nationally represented samples, including all races." Putnam reminds us of our moral obligation to address the opportunity gap and suggests some public policy initiatives to address the problem--steps such as instituting nationwide early childhood education and restoring working-class wages. Jennifer M. Silva, a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University and author of Coming Up Short, is credited in the methodology section as having provided the interviews. VERDICT The title and subtitle speak to the author's passion and belief that today's family and community support are less readily available to kids from such modest backgrounds than in the past and that Americans need to address this problem for the benefit of all children. Recommended for academic and public library collections. [See Prepub Alert, 9/8/14.]--Karen Venturella, Union Cty. Coll. Libs, Cranford, NJ

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