In the last 30 years, the wages of the top 1 percent have grown by 154 percent, while the wages of the bottom 90 percent have grown by only 17 percent. As the rungs of the economic ladder move further apart, some argue that opportunities to achieve the American dream of upward mobility could disappear, they assert, as the rich grow richer and the wages of the middle class and the poor hardly grow at all. But others consider income inequality a positive...

From children playing at the sandlot to the Olympics, the one thing athletic competitions have in common is that they all center around a game. This program scrutinizes athletics today through its evolution from a sport played for fun into a multibillion-dollar industry that can symbolize the problem of greed and the attitude of winning at all costs. Featured on the program are: sports broadcaster Dick Vitale; Tom McMillen, former basketball star...

Bob Marley sings "Can anything good come out of Trench Town?" in the song that made famous the name of this long-troubled community in Jamaica. Trench Town today is still the scene of constant turf wars and battle for control by local dons, and its youngest citizens are the ones who get caught in the middle. This program explores Trench Town through the eyes of its children as they candidly discuss their aspirations, their fears, and what it's like...

It's noon in the small South African township of Alexandra, and a group of 8-year-olds streams excitedly out of a classroom to eat their lunch. But Thabo, known for stealing from the others, stays inside. Like many of his peers in the poverty-stricken region, he is sent to school each day without food or money to buy a meal. Thabo and four of his classmates are profiled in this program about South African children whose family histories of abuse and...

Bilal, a 16-year-old slave in Mauritania, runs away from his master in order to find his mother, who had to give him up when he was only 2 years old. Tracking the reunion of Bilal and his mother, this documentary reports on the problem of slavery in Mauritania and the maltreatment suffered by its legions of unpaid, captive workers. Attempts to abolish slavery in the West African country have been made since 1901, but the practice is culturally entrenched;...

New international investment and steady growth have made Mozambique a promising African economy, but little of that change has trickled down to the citizens, many of whom still struggle to afford staple foods. In this NewsHour report, Ray Suarez explores how the growing economy has left many of the poorest people behind. Origina?

Allie Hamilton and Noah Calhoun meet one evening at a carnival. But they are separated by Allie's parents who dissaprove of Noah's unwealthy family, and move Allie away. When Allie doesn't hear from Noah after several years, she meets and becomes engaged to a handsome young soldier named Lon. Allie, with her love still alive for Noah, stops by Noah's home to check on him. Seeing that their reunion has rekindled a passionate romance, Allie must now...

In the shadow of an increasingly interconnected and globalized economy, many of the world's poor are worse off than ever before. This classic documentary travels to Tanzania, Mali, India, Brazil, and Bosnia to present some practical solutions offered by poor people themselves as they face the challenge of improving their living conditions. Slum residents who have formed community activist groups explain why having sewage systems and permanent housing...

In the 1960s, labor leader and civil rights activist, Dolores Huerta organized in the fields, spearheading a national boycott of grapes and lettuce and making decent pay and working conditions a reality for thousands of farm workers. After receiving a Medal of Freedom at the White House in May 2012, Huerta spoke with NewsHour's Ray Suarez.

Economist Jeffrey Sachs has pointed out that for most of history, "everybody in the world was poor." As societies grew richer, they formed different attitudes toward poverty. The Greeks thought it played an essential role in society, whereas the Chinese developed sophisticated programs to prevent famine and extreme need. And though the Industrial Revolution promised an end to hunger, it may have ended up widening the gap between rich and poor. This...