Crane in the first four chapters of Maggie Girl of the Streets, illustrates the concepts of slums, alcohol, environmental hazards, and the consequences these factors inflict. The status of the underclass does not parallel that of the persistently poor. The underclass consists of those “whose limited educational and career opportunities continue to struggle” (Tyson 55). While the underclass, in addition to being subject to educational and financial hardship, “has few, if any, material possessions and little hope for improvement” (Tyson 55). Crane describes Maggie's homelessness as the seemingly direct indicator that sends her on an inevitable path of destruction. In modern culture Maggie would represent the underclass as a whole; the status of the lumpenproletariat in society is the result of their indiscretions. In an attempt to maintain some income, Maggie turns to prostitution, becoming "a girl of the painted cohorts of the city" (Crane). This sentiment in contemporary American culture is expressed in the April Sixteenth Class Indicators journal: “the underclass, along with the urgent need for shelter, requires a way to improve its abilities to provide for itself.” Today, homelessness is considered a problem that people try to “solve” or cure as if it were a disease.