9780130385680

For courses in Economics of Poverty and Discrimination, Welfare Politics and Policy, Social Problems, and Sociology of Poverty, in the departments of Economics, Sociology, Urban Studies, Education and Social Work. As the leading college text in the field for over twenty years, this book has been distinguished by its relevant coverage, tight organization, multidisciplinary perspective, and timeliness. The ninth edition preserves these qualities while incorporating new reference material.

The Dimensions of Poverty	p. 1
Views of Inequality and Poverty	p. 1
The Continuing Controversy	p. 1
What to do?	p. 2
Too little government assistance?	p. 3
Or too much aid?	p. 3
Equity and efficiency	p. 4
Causes and Cures	p. 4
Flawed character	p. 4
Restricted opportunity	p. 6
Big Brother	p. 7
Self-interest	p. 7
Policy implications	p. 8
Historical perspectives	p. 8
Inequality	p. 11
Differing explanations	p. 11
Equity versus efficiency	p. 11
Dimensions of Well-Being	p. 12
Income versus wealth	p. 13
Transitory versus permanent income	p. 13
Life-cycle dynamics	p. 14
Public provisions	p. 14
Social equality	p. 15
Discrimination	p. 15
Poverty: Drawing a Line	p. 16
The absolute approach	p. 16
The relative approach	p. 17
Summary	p. 20
Further Reading	p. 21
Counting the Poor	p. 22
The Distribution of Income	p. 22
The Official Poverty Line	p. 24
The concept of minimum needs	p. 25
Units of measure	p. 26
Poverty thresholds	p. 27
The CEA line	p. 27
The SSA index	p. 29
The current poverty index	p. 29
The Number of Poor People	p. 32
The official poverty count	p. 33
The poverty rate	p. 33
How poor?	p. 35
Measurement Problems	p. 35
Too low a standard?	p. 35
Too high a standard?	p. 36
In-kind income	p. 36
Underreporting	p. 38
Income mobility	p. 39
The uncounted poor	p. 40
Latent poverty	p. 40
The call for revision	p. 41
Characteristics of the Poor	p. 42
Age and family status	p. 42
Geography and residence	p. 43
Labor force status	p. 45
Similarities and differences	p. 46
Summary	p. 47
Further Reading	p. 47
Web Links	p. 48
Causes of Poverty	p. 49
Labor Force Participation	p. 49
Income Sources	p. 49
Two-parent Families	p. 50
Female-headed families	p. 52
Labor Force Status	p. 54
Participation and poverty	p. 54
The nonparticipants	p. 55
Unemployment	p. 57
The Process of Economic Deterioration	p. 58
Subemployment	p. 59
Discouraged workers	p. 59
Other marginally attached workers	p. 60
Underemployment	p. 60
Subemployment	p. 61
Poverty implications	p. 61
The Question of Causation	p. 62
Do the poor really try?	p. 62
Macroeconomic forces	p. 65
Poverty Impact of Cyclical Unemployment	p. 68
Summary	p. 69
Further Reading	p. 72
Web Links	p. 72
The Unemployment-Inflation Trade-Off	p. 73
The Phillips curve	p. 73
The Working Poor	p. 76
Work Experience and Poverty	p. 76
Weeks of work and hours	p. 76
The working poor	p. 77
How much work?	p. 79
More measurement problems	p. 79
The significance of secondary workers	p. 80
Searching for Explanations	p. 82
Minimum-Wage Jobs	p. 82
Low Wages	p. 84
Poor jobs	p. 86
Why Wages Are So Low	p. 88
Summary	p. 89
Further Reading	p. 90
Web Links	p. 90
Does Prosperity Trickle Down?	p. 91
The trickle-down perspective	p. 91
The dual labor-market perspective	p. 92
Age and Health	p. 93
Age	p. 93
Declining poverty rate	p. 93
Diversity among the aged	p. 95
Sources of economic support	p. 96
New poverty or continuing poverty?	p. 99
Rising health costs	p. 102
Tax burdens	p. 103
Making do	p. 104
Assessing causation	p. 104
Health	p. 105
Health costs	p. 105
Causality	p. 105
Health insurance	p. 107
Intergenerational Links	p. 108
Mental Health	p. 108
Summary	p. 109
Further Reading	p. 109
Web Links	p. 110
Family Size and Structure	p. 111
Family Size	p. 111
Poverty rates	p. 112
The potential impact	p. 112
Declining family size	p. 114
The causal relation	p. 114
Family Structure	p. 115
Changing family patterns	p. 115
Economic implications	p. 117
Poverty impact	p. 118
Causation	p. 119
Summary	p. 123
Further Reading	p. 124
Web Links	p. 124
The Underclass: Culture and Race	p. 125
The Culture of Poverty	p. 125
Norms versus traits	p. 126
A question of opportunities	p. 128
Wilson's Underclass Theory	p. 129
Testing the theory	p. 129
Direct tests of aspirations	p. 130
Indirect tests of predicted behavior	p. 131
Assessment	p. 133
The Racial Inferiority Theory	p. 133
Intelligence and status	p. 135
IQ scores	p. 136
Resolving the issues	p. 137
Other complications	p. 138
Summary	p. 139
Further Reading	p. 140
Web Links	p. 140
Education and Ability	p. 141
Education and Income	p. 141
Poverty rates	p. 142
Labor-market effects	p. 142
Increasing skill premiums	p. 142
Paths of Causation	p. 144
Overlapping causes	p. 144
Education as a sorting device	p. 146
The content of education	p. 149
Ability and Income	p. 149
Which ability matters?	p. 150
IQ and schooling	p. 150
Summary	p. 152
Further Reading	p. 153
Web Links	p. 153
Discrimination in Education	p. 154
Discrimination	p. 154
Attitudes versus action	p. 155
The relevancy standard	p. 155
Costs and benefits of discrimination	p. 157
Proving discrimination	p. 159
Racial Discrimination in Education	p. 159
Disparate outcomes	p. 160
School segregation	p. 161
Equality of facilities	p. 163
Inherent inequalities	p. 165
Class Discrimination in Education	p. 166
School finances	p. 166
Educational attainments	p. 167
The question of ability	p. 167
Sex Discrimination in Education	p. 169
Gender segregation	p. 170
Graduate degrees	p. 170
Summary	p. 172
Further Reading	p. 173
Web Links	p. 173
Discrimination in the Labor Market	p. 174
Racial Discrimination in the Labor Market	p. 174
Disparities in earnings	p. 175
Educational differences	p. 176
Components of earnings disparities	p. 178
Who discriminates?	p. 182
Labor unions	p. 183
Employers	p. 185
Class Discrimination in the Labor Market	p. 186
Sex Discrimination in the Labor Market	p. 187
Occupational segregation	p. 188
Summary	p. 190
Further Reading	p. 191
Web Links	p. 191
Policy Options	p. 193
Welfare Programs	p. 193
Welfare versus Social Insurance	p. 194
Welfare: The Cash Assistance Programs	p. 196
Inadequacies	p. 196
Inequities	p. 197
Family disincentives	p. 199
Work disincentives	p. 200
Conflicting welfare goals	p. 203
The goal compromise	p. 204
Welfare Reforms, 1982-2000	p. 205
State experiments, 1982-1988	p. 205
The family support act of 1988	p. 206
State waivers, 1991-1995	p. 207
PRWOA: The 1996 welfare reforms	p. 207
The controversy	p. 209
Observed effects	p. 209
Welfare: The In-Kind Programs	p. 212
Food stamps	p. 212
Medicaid	p. 212
Housing assistance	p. 213
Nutrition programs	p. 213
The welfare package	p. 213
Revisiting the goal conflict	p. 214
Guaranteed income	p. 217
Guaranteed jobs	p. 219
Workfare	p. 219
Edfare	p. 221
Promoting families	p. 221
The Limits of Welfare	p. 221
Summary	p. 223
Further Reading	p. 223
Web Links	p. 224
Social Insurance Programs	p. 225
Social Security	p. 225
OASDHI programs	p. 226
Financing	p. 226
Benefits	p. 227
Poverty impact	p. 228
Medicare	p. 232
Hospital insurance	p. 232
Supplemental medical insurance	p. 232
Poverty impact	p. 233
Unemployment Insurance	p. 233
Eligibility conditions	p. 233
Benefits	p. 234
Poverty impact	p. 235
Child-Support Enforcement	p. 236
Child-support gaps	p. 236
Enforcement policies	p. 237
Poverty impact	p. 238
Summary	p. 240
Further Reading	p. 241
Web Links	p. 241
Employment Policies	p. 242
Aggregate Demand Policies	p. 243
Demand management	p. 243
Full employment versus price stability	p. 243
The quality of jobs	p. 244
Training Programs	p. 246
Job vacancies	p. 246
The CETA program	p. 247
JTPA programs	p. 248
Workforce Investment Act	p. 248
The WIN program	p. 249
The JOBS program	p. 250
State block grants	p. 250
Generic problems	p. 251
Tax Credits	p. 251
Employer credits	p. 252
Employee credits	p. 253
Family Policy	p. 255
A Coordinated Approach	p. 255
Summary	p. 256
Further Reading	p. 257
Web Links	p. 257
Equal Opportunity Policies	p. 258
Equal Employment Opportunity Policies	p. 259
The EEOC	p. 260
The OFCCP	p. 260
Quotas and guidelines	p. 261
Reverse discrimination	p. 262
Comparable worth	p. 264
Class-based preferences	p. 264
Equal Education Opportunity Policies	p. 265
Limits on federal policy	p. 265
De jure versus de facto segregation	p. 266
Housing patterns	p. 266
Busing	p. 269
Fiscal disparities	p. 270
Compensatory education	p. 273
College admissions	p. 273
School-based quotas	p. 275
Summary	p. 276
Further Reading	p. 277
Web Links	p. 277
Directions and Prospects	p. 278
The Causes of Poverty	p. 278
Policy Directions	p. 280
Welfare reform	p. 281
Economic prosperity	p. 282
Social insurance	p. 282
Education and training	p. 283
Macroeconomic policy	p. 283
Equal opportunity	p. 284
Causes, Attitudes, and Policy	p. 284
Index	p. 287
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Dramatic changes have occurred in the landscape of poverty and discrimination since the last edition of this text was published. The landmark welfare reforms of 1996 (the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Act) became fully effective in 2001, when the legislated time limits on welfare eligibility first took hold. In those first five years of welfare reform welfare caseloads plunged. Some observers credit tougher eligibility conditions for the caseload decline; others point to the strong expansion of the U.S. economy in those same years. After the economy started slipping in spring 2001, the debate over cause and effect took on a more urgent tone. Would a slumping economy reverse the caseload declines of 1996-2001, or did welfare reform lay a more permanent foundation for financial independence? With both state and federal budgets strained by slumping revenues, the range of potential policy responses to an upsurge in welfare caseloads was severely limited. Aside from changes in welfare caseloads, there is the broader issue of changes inpoverty.The poverty population didn't decline as dramatically as the nation's welfare population. Between 1996 and 2001, welfare caseloads fell by more than 50 percent as nearly 6 million people left welfare. During those same years, however, the poverty population declined by only 3.3 million, or by 20 percent. This suggests that welfare reduction isn't synonymous with poverty reduction. While most welfare leavers moved up the economic ladder, a good many others remained in or near poverty. The challenge for policy makers has been to extend more completely the success of welfare decline to the goal of poverty reduction. The financial and economic turbulence of the last decade has also sparked broad interest in issues of inequality. The rise and fall of the dot.coms, the surge and collapse of the stock market, the revelations of corporate malfeasance and executive largesse have all heightened awareness of how unequal incomes can be. With poverty on the (slow) decline, this heightened awareness has fostered more inquires into the nature and causes of inequality. These new inquires go beyond explanations forpovertyto broader questions of how relative incomes are determined. This ninth edition responds to these questions by adding a new chapter (2) that examines the extent and permanency of inequalities in the United States arid other nations. Another highlight of this edition is the focus on the rapidly changing parameters of affirmative action. The California Civil Rights Initiative of 1996 started the current reversal of affirmative action. Since then, racial quotas have been jettisoned in favor of "race-conscious" policies that allow ethnicity to be one of many factors in hiring and admissions decisions. Even that much weaker form of affirmative action is under attack now. As this edition goes to press, the U.S. Supreme Court is considering a challenge to the race-conscious admissions policy of the University of Michigan's law school. In the interim, many institutions are adopting broader, class-based preferences that favor minority groups without explicitly targeting them. MULTIDISCIPLINARY APPROACH All of these changes more than just justify a fresh look at poverty, discrimination, and related topics. That is the purpose of this new edition. Once again, an effort has been made to incorporate the latest research findings from diverse disciplines, including economics, sociology, political science, gerontology, anthropology, law, and public health. Although my own training in economics gives a unique structure and perspective to the text, the discussion ranges far beyond the conventional boundaries of academic disciplines. This is particularly evident in expanded discussions of the urban underclass, the increasing feminization of poverty, the renewed IQ controversy, the behavioral constraints on welfare reform, and public attitude on pove

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The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination

The Economics of Poverty and Discrimination

0130385689

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