Employment Exits and the Race Gap in Young Women's Employment*

Objective. A race gap in employment that disadvantages young African‐American women has emerged for the first time in U.S. history. This article addresses the extent to which race differences in employment entry, exits, or both are responsible for the gap. Methods. The article relies on event‐history analysis using NLSY data. Results. Analyses show that differences in rates of exit, not entry, explain the race gap. Factors encouraging higher exit rates among African‐American than white women include lower AFQT scores and greater numbers of children. Conclusion. These findings raise questions about the utility of focusing on employment processes at the point of employment entry, at least for processes involving young women. The importance of exits in understanding race differences in women's employment calls attention to processes within firms that present barriers to African‐American women.     

Racial Contexts' Enduring Influence on Attitudes Toward Poverty*

Objective. This article's objective is to reply to Rodgers (2009) and to expand on the claim that living near poor African Americans influences Americans' views of poverty. Methods. It first presents additional analyses of the 2001 Poverty in America Survey demonstrating that respondents' racial contexts are consistent predictors of attitudes toward poverty. Other contextual variables are not. Results. The article then presents results from an exogenous shock—the post‐Katrina migration—to reinforce its claims. Despite the widespread understanding that the evacuees were not to blame for their situation, their arrival in Houston and Baton Rouge led to more individualistic explanations of poverty. Conclusion. This article concludes that even in unlikely cases, racial contexts influence attitudes toward poverty.     

Wal‐Mart and County‐Wide Poverty*

Objectives. This study seeks to identify the independent effect of Wal‐Mart stores on changes in U.S. family‐poverty rates at the county level. We draw on the contributions of a number of disciplines to enhance our understanding of the broader forces that influence poverty. Methods. A key innovation is that we estimate a two‐stage regression model, in which an instrument is created for new Wal‐Mart stores from a location equation; this reduces any potential endogeneity bias in the poverty‐change equation. In addition, we use spatial econometric methods to correct for spatial dependence bias. Results. After controlling for other factors determining changes in the poverty rate over time, we find that counties with more initial (1987) Wal‐Mart stores and counties with more additions of stores between 1987 and 1998 experienced greater increases (or smaller decreases) in family‐poverty rates during the 1990s economic boom period. Conclusions. Wal‐Mart creates both benefits and costs to communities in which the chain locates. These benefits and costs need to be weighed carefully by community decisionmakers in deciding whether to provide public subsidies to the chain.     

Measuring Third World Poverty by the International Poverty Line: The Case of Reform China*

This article selects a fast growing economy, China, under Deng Xiao-ping's economic reforms, as a case example for exploring the use of the median income-linked international poverty line in measuring third world poverty. Those third world countries which have a fast growing economy have the prospect of increased income inequality. Henceforth, the widening income inequality justifies a comparable poverty measurement which takes into account the relation between economic affluence and income distribution.     

Child Poverty Among Racial Minorities and Immigrants: Explaining Trends and Differentials*

Objective. This article examines the effects of changing family structure (including cohabitation) and maternal employment during the 1990s on child poverty rates across America's diverse racial and ethnic groups. Unlike most previous studies focused on broad pan‐ethnic groups, our analyses examine children distinguished by race/ethnicity, immigrant generation, and national origin (e.g., Mexican, Japanese, Middle Eastern, among others). Methods. The analyses, using methods of demographic standardization, are based on data from the 1990 and 2000 Public Use Microdata Samples of the U.S. Decennial Censuses. Results. Child poverty rates declined broadly across population groups in the 1990s. Increasing maternal employment during the 1990s, rather than changing family structure, accounted for the largest share (nearly 40 percent) of the recent decline in child poverty rates. Changes in family structure played a minor role in reducing child poverty for most of the 25 groups considered in this article. Differences in family structure accounted for a large part of observed child poverty differences between minority groups. Conclusions. Rapid increases in maternal employment during the 1990s provided a hedge against rising child poverty and a route to economic self‐sufficiency for growing shares of single mothers and their children.     

Material Hardship,Poverty, and Disability Among Working‐Age Adults*

Objectives. We used data from the 1996 panel of the Survey of Income and Program Participation to examine the extent to which working‐age people with disabilities experience several types of material hardships. Methods. We constructed a series of logistic regression models to assess the importance of disability to material hardship experiences after controlling for income and other sociodemographic characteristics. Results. The findings indicate that disability is an important determinant of material hardship even after controlling for these factors. We also found that a large majority of the low‐income respondents reporting a material hardship also reported being work‐limited for some period of time. Conclusions. Our findings provide support for policies that account for disability‐related expenditures and needs when determining eligibility for means‐tested assistance programs, and highlight an important limitation of the official poverty measure—it overstates the relative economic well‐being of people with disabilities.     

Partisan Reinforcement and the Poor: The Impact of Context on Explanations for Poverty*

Objective. Past research has demonstrated that Americans view poverty in racial terms, and that they often blame the poor for their situation. This article's objective is to determine if local contexts can influence these views. Methods. Synthesizing racial and political theories of contextual effects, I use two nationally representative surveys to explore Americans' explanations for poverty. Results. People living in areas where the poor are mostly white are less likely to attribute poverty to the failings of the poor themselves, as theories of racial threat would predict. However, a second finding is stronger: the percentage of the county that voted Republican in the last election consistently predicts less structural and more individualistic explanations of poverty. Conclusions. Local processes of partisan reinforcement play a key role in shaping explanations of poverty.     

Political and Civic Participation Among Disadvantaged Urban Mothers: The Role of Neighborhood Poverty*

Objective. This article explores the relationship between neighborhood economic conditions and mothers' political and civic participation, examining whether this relationship is conditioned on mothers' individual characteristics. Methods. Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well‐Being Study, it tests specifically whether neighborhood poverty influences mothers' voting and voluntary behavior differently depending on their income, education, race/ethnicity, and relationship status. Results. The results suggest that the relationship between neighborhood poverty and voting behavior depends on mothers' education level and relationship status, whereas the relationship between neighborhood poverty and mothers' volunteer work varies by race and relationship status. Conclusions. The results are in accordance with what some qualitative research has long suggested: that the relationship between neighborhood conditions and individual outcomes varies from person to person and group to group. Future research on “neighborhood effects” should continue to move beyond homogeneous explanations for how neighborhoods influence behavior and instead seek to determine the specific conditions under which neighborhoods exert influence on individual outcomes.     

Citizenship Status and TANF Exits: A Proportional Hazard Model

ABSTRACT

This study compared exits between citizen and noncitizen heads of household from the Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) program. With longitudinal monthly administrative data and a Cox proportional hazard model, the study examined how the economy and recipients’ personal characteristics affected their exits. The sample consisted of 28,308 families headed by citizens and 2,547 families headed by a noncitizen on TANF. Key findings reveal that families on TANF exit the rolls primarily during the first 8 months after entrance. Results showed that families headed by a noncitizen remain on TANF longer than families headed by a citizen. The roles of minimum wage and unemployment in shaping the risk of exit for noncitizen compared to citizen families were explored. Suggestions for further research and how to serve recipients best in times of economic downturns are provided. Similar research needs to be conducted in states where temporary TANF time limits do not exist.     

Public Policy,Economic Inequality,and Poverty: The United States in Comparative Perspective*

Objective. This article compares recent levels and trends in economic inequality in industrialized nations, largely those belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. We also examine the effects of government policies and social spending efforts on inequality. Method. We use data from the Luxembourg Income Study and the U.S. Congressional Budget Office to measure disposable money income on an annual basis for 30 nations around the end of the 20th century. We also convert the incomes of a set of rich nations into real 2000 U.S. dollars, using a standard measure of purchasing power parity to examine absolute differences in income inequality. Results. The United States has the highest overall level of inequality of any rich OECD nation at the beginning of the 21st century. Moreover, increases in the dispersion of total household income in the United States have been as large as, or larger than, those experienced elsewhere between 1979 and 2002. Government policies and social spending have lesser effects in the United States than in any other rich nation, and both low spending and low wages have a great impact on the final income distribution, especially among the nonelderly. Conclusion. We speculate on the role policy plays in the final determination of income inequality. We argue that these differences cannot be explained by demography (single parents, immigrants, elders) but are more likely to be attributed to American institutions and lack of spending effort on behalf of low‐income working families.     

The Effects of Knowledge about Poverty,Exposure to Poverty and Trust on Policymakers’ Perceptions about Poverty

This article explores two questions: (1) Does knowledge about poverty and exposure to poverty affect the perceptions of policymakers about how to deal with the problem? (2) Does policymakers’ trust in members of society affect their perceptions regarding ways of dealing with poverty? Based on interviewees with 103 policymakers in Israel, the findings reveal that knowledge about poverty and trust in the members of society have an effect on policy perceptions. The result may have a theoretical contribution to the policy theory at the individual level and practical implications for policy entrepreneurs.     

The Effects of Marital Conflict and Marital Disruption on Depressive Affect: A Comparison Between Women In and Out of Poverty*

Objectives. We examine the independent and interactive effects of marital conflict and marital disruption on women's depressive affect and how these effects vary by family's poverty status. Methods. We use the OLS regression and data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to test the hypothesized relationships. Results. The results showed that marital conflict and marital disruption each predicts subsequent depression after controlling for the initial level of depression and other antecedent variables. The effect of marital conflict on depression is stronger among women in poverty than those out of poverty. Furthermore, among women in poverty, marital conflict followed by marital breakup is related to a heightened level of depression, whereas among women financially better off, there is a reduction in the level of depressive affect. Conclusions. These findings point to the importance of a family's economic condition and its impact on the interrelationships among marital processes and women's psychological health.     

Effects of a Poverty Intervention Policy Demonstration on Parenting and Child Behavior: A Test of the Direction of Effects*

Objectives. This study compares two explanations for the effects of an employment‐based anti‐poverty intervention, the New Hope project, on parenting and child behavior. (1) Did the New Hope intervention directly affect child behavior and, if it did, is this the result of New Hope effects on earlier parenting practices? (2) Did the New Hope intervention directly affect parenting practices and, if it did, is this the result of New Hope effects on earlier child behavior? Methods. Assessments were collected two and five years after parents were randomly assigned to participate in New Hope or in a control group. The two models were tested using Baron and Kenny's (1986) recommendations for regression to test mediation. Results. The results support the second research question, but only for boys; neither model was supported for girls. New Hope led to increased positive behavior and reduced behavior problems for boys after two years; children's behavior accounted for experimental effects on parents' reports of their parenting behaviors after five years. Conclusions. Employment‐based interventions designed for low‐income parents can affect children directly; expanding such programs may help improve children's life chances.