The Problems of Disadvantaged Youth: An Economic Perspective.

The Problems of Disadvantaged Youth: An Economic Perspective, edited by Jonathan Gruber, will be available this fall from the University of Chicago Press. This NBER Conference Report costs $110.00.

In the United States, one of the most important public policy issues is how to improve the life prospects of disadvantaged youth who, in their formative years, face low-quality school systems, poor access to health care, and high crime environments. This volume examines various aspects of disadvantage and a variety of ways of increasing the ability of low-income youths to improve their circumstances later in life. The nine essays in this volume help to document the serious short- and long-term negative consequences of childhood disadvantage and provide nuanced evidence of the impact of public policy designed to help needy children. Gruber directs the NBER'S Program on Health Care and is a Professor of Economics at MIT.