Below is a first look at new and forthcoming books from the foundation for Spring 2017. The list includes Cradle to Kindergarten, a comprehensive diagnosis of the obstacles to early care and education in the U.S. today; Places in Need, an investigation of the rise of suburban poverty and what it portends for antipoverty policies; Marriage Vows and Racial Choices, a study of why Latinos choose to marry either within or outside their racial and ethnic groups; and Weathering Katrina, an examination of Vietnamese Americans’ path to recovery in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina.

Four new issues of RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences will also be released this spring, and include “Financial Reform: Preventing the Next Crisis” (available now); “Spatial Foundations of Inequality”; “The U.S. Labor Market During and After the Great Recession”; and “Undocumented Immigrants and Their Experience with Illegality.”

To request a printed copy of our Spring 2017 catalog, please contact Bruce Thongsack at bruce@rsage.org, or view the complete list of RSF books on our publications page.

[[{"fid":"6957","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"height":"2700","width":"1800","style":"width: 150px; height: 225px; margin: 10px 20px; float: right;","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]Cradle to Kindergarten: A New Plan to Combat Inequality

By Ajay Chaudry Taryn Morrissey Christina Weiland Hirokazu Yoshikawa

Early care and education for many children in the U.S. is in crisis. The period between birth and kindergarten is a critical time for child development, and socioeconomic disparities that begin early in children’s lives contribute to starkly different long-term outcomes for adults. Yet, compared to other advanced economies, high-quality child care and preschool in the U.S. are scarce and prohibitively expensive for many middle class and most disadvantaged families. To what extent can early-life interventions provide these children with the opportunities that their affluent peers enjoy and contribute to reduced social inequality in the long term? Cradle to Kindergarten offers a comprehensive, evidence-based strategy that diagnoses the obstacles to accessible early education and charts a path to opportunity for all children. Read more

[[{"fid":"6958","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"height":"2700","width":"1800","style":"width: 150px; height: 225px; margin: 10px 20px; float: right;","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]Places in Need: The Changing Geography of Poverty

By Scott W. Allard

Americans think of suburbs as prosperous areas that are relatively free from poverty and unemployment. Yet, today more poor people live in the suburbs than in cities themselves. In Places in Need, social policy expert Scott W. Allard tracks how the number of poor people living in suburbs has more than doubled over the last 25 years, with little attention from either academics or policymakers. Rising suburban poverty has not coincided with a decrease in urban poverty, meaning that solutions for reducing poverty must work in both cities and suburbs. Allard notes that because the suburban social safety net is less developed than the urban safety net, a better understanding of suburban communities is critical for understanding and alleviating poverty in metropolitan areas. Read more

[[{"fid":"6929","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"height":"2700","width":"1800","style":"width: 150px; height: 225px; margin: 10px 20px; float: right;","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]Marriage Vows and Racial Choices

By Jessica Vasquez-Tokos

Choosing whom to marry involves more than emotion, as racial politics, cultural mores, and local demographics all shape romantic choices. In Marriage Vows and Racial Choices, sociologist Jessica Vasquez-Tokos explores the decisions of Latinos who marry either within or outside of their racial and ethnic groups. Drawing from in-depth interviews with nearly 50 couples, she examines their marital choices and how these unions influence their identities as Americans. Read more

[[{"fid":"6930","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default","field_file_image_alt_text[und][0][value]":"","field_file_image_title_text[und][0][value]":""},"type":"media","attributes":{"height":"1800","width":"1200","style":"width: 150px; height: 225px; margin: 10px 20px; float: right;","class":"media-element file-default"}}]]Weathering Katrina: Culture and Recovery among Vietnamese-Americans

By Mark VanLandingham

In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. The principal Vietnamese-American enclave was a remote, low-income area that flooded badly. Many residents arrived decades earlier as refugees from the Vietnam War and were marginally fluent in English. Yet, despite these poor odds of success, the Vietnamese made a surprisingly strong comeback in the wake of the flood. In Weathering Katrina, public health scholar Mark VanLandingham analyzes their path to recovery, and examines the extent to which culture helped them cope during this crisis. Read more