This paper argues that the U.S.'s experience during the economic boom of the 1990s, together with its choices concerning social welfare policies, imply that child poverty in the United States will be much higher than that in most European countries. It hypothesizes that Americans reveal their preferences about the extent of poverty they are willing to tolerate through their public policy choices. Poverty is not very high on their agenda, and they are content to live in a society that has more economic hardship than most Europeans would tolerate. Poverty is high in the United States because Americans want to increase work among the poor and give themselves tax cuts more than they want to reduce poverty. The paper reviews the major welfare reform proposals put forward after the 1960s, emphasizing the rise and fall of poverty reduction as a social policy and the emergence of personal responsibility as the replacement goal. It suggests that if poverty is to be significantly reduced in the near term, people must demonstrate a greater willingness to spend public funds to help turn a cash-based safety net into a work-oriented safety net. (Contains 30 references.) (SM)