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> One out of eleven of the disadvantaged, but only one in 300 of the ordinary children, had had contact with the juvenile probation service. In fact, the disadvantaged use social service agencies so heavily that the report estimates that a 2% reduction in the number of disadvantaged would produce a reduction of between 11% and 14% in the number of "calls" on the agencies.
Having painted this dismal portrait of self-perpetuating misery, the report recommends strategies for alleviating it. Concluding that social work is only a palliative and education too slow and chancy, the bureau recommends strong efforts to divert public resources from "technological progress" and into direct expenditures that will raise low incomes and improve poor housing. Thus its major recommendation is the same one that Christopher Jencks made in his book about U.S. society and education called Inequality (TIME, Sept. 18, 1972).
Asks the report: "Are we more interested in a bigger national cake so that some children get a bigger slice eventually—or are we ready for disadvantaged children to have a bigger slice now, even if as a result our personal slice is smaller?"
* The actual number of births exceeded 17,000. but over the years some children died, others emigrated and a few could not be traced.