Join the Urban Institute for a discussion about the legacies of the deepest poverty in America and the mechanisms through which it persists. In their new book, The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America, Luke Shaefer and colleagues Kathryn Edin and Timothy Nelson explore the poorest places in the country – from Appalachia, the Cotton and Tobacco Belts, and South Texas – to examine the inequalities shaping people’s health, livelihoods, and upward social mobility and develop a multidimensional Index of Deep Disadvantage. Using a data-driven approach, the authors have sought to understand what these places have in common.
Shaefer will join Gregory Acs, Urban’s vice president for income and benefits policy, in conversation about how the historic economic and social structures in certain communities reinforce poverty across generations. The discussion will continue with a panel of experts on the importance of place and place-based solutions for supporting upward mobility from poverty.