Suchergebnisse

Ruminates on poverty research, focusing on conceptual issues, politics, & race. The bias toward econometric analysis in poverty research is lamented for want of sufficient conceptual resources, advocating a cross-disciplinary approach to complement the heavily quantitative field. More attention needs to be paid to the allocation of business cycle risks among income classes in the US & to the construction of the very concept of "poverty." It is contended that researchers should not ignore the impact of prevailing political attitudes on policy making, particularly in terms of eschewing critical analysis of these public sentiments. A radically progressive sensibility in poverty research is called for. To address the blatant link between race & poverty, the notions of discrimination in contract & discrimination in contact are presented, arguing that mechanisms of status transmission & social mobility hinge on social interactions in both spheres. Further, cultural explanations to account for racial disparities are challenged for neglecting the fact that group identifications & racial self-understandings are endogenous; the question of how groups construct notions of what constitutes a behavioral norm is posed. J. Zendejas

Explores why the US poverty rate & inequality are higher than that of 10 OECD countries via analysis of one absolute & two relative sets of poverty rates. Following a review of international concepts & measures of poverty, poverty among children & elderly are estimated & relative poverty trends for the other 10 nations tabulated. Findings indicate that the substantially higher US child poverty rate (14.7% vs 8% or less) is partially due to the relatively small allotment of national income to social transfers for families with a nonaged head as well as the wage distribution. The link between cross-national policy differentials & poverty is briefly addressed. It is concluded that while low US unemployment can reduce poverty by raising wages for low-skilled workers, the fact that not all poor will "earn" their way out of poverty & the possibility of recession limit this effect. An income package mixing work & benefits as well as other income transfers are proposed to ameliorate this particular brand of US poverty. 4 Tables, 3 Figures, 1 Appendix. J. Zendejas

Officially, poverty is defined in terms of personal or family income & signified by a line; here, statistical data are applied to this line as well as other definitions of poverty to expose more accurate levels & trends in US poverty. Absolute & relative standards of income poverty are discussed before addressing alternatives: consumption measures, health care poverty, wealth poverty, social indicators, earnings capacity, & multiperiod poverty. The distribution of cash income is explored for the US along with the income:poverty line ratio, as based on the official poverty line; a number of deficiencies in using this line are revealed. Interpretation of income & poverty trends is influenced by the manner in which the government measures price change. Accounting for all of this, analysis shows no long-term change in absolute poverty since 1970. Using these alternative definitions of poverty, population subgroup (ie, race) rates are derived. Why progress against poverty has been so slight since 1973 is considered in conclusion. 4 Tables, 9 Figures, 1 Appendix. J. Zendejas

Explores human capital investment across the life course as a means of poverty reduction. Intervention strategies targeting at-risk preschool children are considered, focusing on the effectiveness of early interventions, eg, Head Start, & a cost-benefit analysis of such programs. Investments for school-age children & adolescents include those geared toward school quality & access, dropout prevention, & school-to-work transition programs (eg, JOBSTART & the Job Training Partnership Act). Discussion of increasing the human capital of disadvantaged adults centers on job training & welfare reform, providing evidence that adult education & welfare-to-work programs are not entirely effective. A cost-benefit analysis of adult human capital investment programs is also briefly described. Policy issues pertinent to human capital investment include program targeting, design, & scale & determining an optimal investment strategy. Reasons for pursuing such strategies are provided: (1) Not all at-risk children will be identified. (2) Ongoing intervention might be required for the most disadvantaged. (3) A continuum of human capital investment opportunities might have a greater cumulative impact than any one investment at any one time. Five chronological approaches are cited as having the most merit. 7 Tables. J. Zendejas

Examines the basics of the memberships theory of poverty, which centers on the impact that group membership has on an individual's socioeconomic outcome via peer group & role model effects, social learning, & social complementarities. The most common application has been to the role of residential neighborhoods in intergenerational transmissions of poverty & inequality. The relevance of social capital is briefly discussed before turning to the range empirical support for the theory as embodied in ethnographic studies, regression analysis, quasi- & controlled experiments, & the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods. Policy implications are considered, & suggestions for policy directions made. J. Zendejas

Reviews longitudinal studies to demonstrate patterns of intra- & intergenerational economic mobility & evaluate the impact of childhood poverty &/or a single-parent household on future outcomes. Poverty persistence is examined in terms of the amount of long-term poverty & the demographic groups experiencing the most, the extent of intergenerational poverty, & changes in long-term child poverty incidence. Analysis of patterns of intragenerational income mobility focuses on the extent of such mobility & variation across demographic groups; assessing 1980-early-1990s mobility increases & its countervailing effect on cross-sectional income inequality; & comparison of income mobility between the US & other industrialized nations with less income inequality. It is suggested that parental disadvantage rather than childhood poverty is associated with or causes parental poverty & leads to negative relations between childhood poverty & child outcomes. The impact of growing up in a single-parent family on children, giving birth as a teen, & being born to a teenage mother on children's life/economic chances is assessed. The prevalence of African Americans among the long-term poor is noted, & policy suggestions are offered. 5 Tables, 3 Figures. J. Zendejas