Digital Commons Network^™

If Not Welfare, Then What?: How Single Mothers Finance College Post-Welfare Reform, Kristin Wilson

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

The article follows previous work on TANF and AFDC by asking if not welfare, then what social programs and financial aid programs are low-income women using to support their college attendance, and what is the impact of these programs on the college-going decisions of low-income women? The study is based on case studies of 10 low-income women attending a community college. Results indicated that EITC, food stamps, and subsidized housing are stable sources of funding. However, each of these programs requires diferent application processes and compliance regulations. Only the Pell Grant was viewed as a dependable source of funding for …

Doing A Little More For The Poor? Social Assistance In Shanghai, Zhang Haomiao

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Shanghai was a leader in nation-wide social assistance reform. It has established an extensive and complex social assistance system. This paper offers a general overview of different major assistance programs in Shanghai and uses a recent survey ofMinimum Living Standard Guarantee System (MLSGS) recipients in urban Shanghai to briefly examine the performance of social assistance. It finds that on the program construction and administration level, Shanghai's social assistance is advanced. However, due to high living costs and relatively low values of social assistance, social assistance plays a limited role in relieving the distress of recipients. The paper analyzes the main …

Poverty Measures And Anti-Poverty Policy, Francois Bourguignon, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] Amartya Sen has made fundamental contributions to the study of distributional aspects of economic growth and decline. Among his pathbreaking works are his lectures on the economics of inequality (Sen, 1973), his article on the axiomatics of poverty measurement (Sen, 1976), and his book on anti-poverty policy in the context of famines (Sen, 1981). This paper is concerned with one of these areas, namely, the measurement of poverty and the implications for anti-poverty policy. In the 1960's and 1970's those who were working in the poverty field held a number of somewhat incompletely articulated views as to the extent …

Employment Generation And Poverty Alleviation In Developing Economies, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] We know well that the East Asian economies have achieved higher economic growth rates than those in any other region of the world and that production for world markets has featured as a hallmark of the East Asian successes. This paper has three purposes: first, to present comparative data showing that the rates at which employment opportunities improve and poverty is reduced mirror countries' differential growth experiences; second, to examine differences in labour market institutions, demonstrating that those in East Asia have similarities more likely to lead to higher output performance and shared improvements in living conditions; and third, …

The Impact Of Government Policies On Urban Employment In Small Economies, Gary S. Fields

Gary S Fields

[Excerpt] Most of the policies intended to affect urban employment are not specifically employment policies nor are they specifically urban. Rather, the amount of urban employment, the composition of that employment, and the returns from it are determined by a whole host of policies. To review them all in a short paper is an impossible undertaking. The criterion by which I decided which policies to consider is policy-relevance, asking which set of policies is apt to have the largest impact on employment.

Courageous Peace, Ann Abdoo

Citizens for Peace

Is peace a sign of courage or weakness? This essay addresses the issue. It was published in the Michigan Department of Peace Campaign, Political Action Guide 2009-2010.

The Political Action Guide is published by Citizens for Peace, a grassroots organization from Michigan's 11th Congressional District. The Guide inclues information on the Department of Peace Legislation, historical and current as well as information on ways to become politically active.

Within the Guide, there is also a directory of many Michigan organizations working for a more peaceful world and the websites of national organizations.

To acquire a current edition, contact Colleen …

Social Interactions In The Labor Market, Andrew Grodner, Thomas J. Kniesner, John A. Bishop

Center for Policy Research

We examine theoretically and empirically social interactions in labor markets and how policy prescriptions can change dramatically when there are social interactions present.

Spillover effects increase labor supply and conformity effects make labor supply perfectly inelastic at a reference group average. The demand for a good may also be influenced by either a spillover effect or a conformity effect. Positive spillover increases the demand for the good with interactions, and a conformity effect makes the demand curve pivot to become less price sensitive. Similar social interactions effects appear in the associated derived demands for labor.

Individual and community factors may …

A Centrist Solution To Central American Violence And Inequality, Devin Joshi

Human Rights & Human Welfare

The northern triangle of Central America (El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) has experienced horrific violence, poverty, and a vicious cycle of human rights violations for decades. Repeated natural disasters and the re-routing of the drug trade through Central America are not helping the situation. On the other hand, nearby Costa Rica has achieved a much higher standard of human rights, public safety, and political stability. Why? Costa Rica has put in place four pillars of development and stability lacking in most other countries in the region: a stronger state, an educated population, inter-racial cooperation, and a more inclusive democracy. For …

Poverty In Massachusetts By Age, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

Massachusetts has lower poverty rates compared to the US average. But, like the US, child poverty rates far exceed those of working age adults (ages 18-64) and those 65 and older.

Child poverty rates differ considerably across Massachusetts’ ten largest cities, ranging from 11.1% in Quincy to 41.0% in Springfield. Boston has the highest poverty rates for those who are 65 and older. Even though most over 65 and older are not employed, this group has lower poverty rates than “working-age” adults in six of the cities. In Boston, Lowell, Lynn, and Quincy, elder poverty rates are higher than those …

Poverty In Massachusetts By Gender, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

Massachusetts has lower poverty rates compared to US average. But, like the US, female poverty rates exceed those of males.

Female poverty rates are higher than male poverty rates in Massachusetts' ten largest cities. But, these rates vary widely from 8.2% for males and 9.9% for females in Quincy to 25.6% for males and 29.1% for females in Springfield.

Poverty In Massachusetts By Nativity, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

Massachusetts has lower poverty rates compared to US average for both native born and foreign born populations. But, foreign-born poverty rates in Massachusetts are only slightly lower than those for foreign born in the US.

Poverty rates for those born outside the US differ considerably across Massachusetts’ ten largest cities, ranging from 8.3% in Quincy to 28.1% in Springfield. But foreign-born poverty rates do not always exceed those of foreign born. In Brockton, Lowell, New Bedford, Springfield and Worcester those born outside the US were less likely to be poor than the native-born population.

Poverty In Massachusetts By Ethnicity, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

At just under 29%, the poverty rate for Hispanics is Massachusetts far exceed the poverty rate of 22% for Hispanics in the US. The poverty rate for non-Hispanics in Massachusetts is less than the US average.

Almost half of all Hispanics in Massachusetts reside in the 10 largest cities, compared to 25% of the total population (data no shown on table). Hispanic poverty rates differ considerably across Massachusetts’ ten largest cities, ranging from 6.3% in Quincy to 53.3% in Lowell.

Poverty In Massachusetts By Race, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

Massachusetts has lower total poverty rates compared to the US average. However, Asian and other minorities in Massachusetts higher poverty rates while Black and White populations have lower poverty rates than compared to US averages.

Poverty rates by race differ considerably across Massachusetts’ ten largest cities. For Blacks, the highest poverty rates are in Fall River (41.7%), for Asians it is Boston (30.2%) and for Whites is it s New Bedford (19.4%). Quincy’s poverty rates are the lowest for Whites (8.0%) and other racial groups (11.2%), while Cambridge has the lowest poverty rates for Blacks at 15.2% and Brockton for …

Poverty In Massachusetts By Household Status, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

Household status matters in terms of poverty. People living in married-couples families are much less likely to be poor than those living in non-married households in Massachusetts and the US.

Poverty rates in Massachusetts’ ten largest cities are typically higher than the rates for the state for all households types. Springfield has the highest rates for those in married couples, female-headed families, and males not living with relatives. Lynn has the highest for females not living with relatives. Quincy has the lowest rates among all household statuses.

Poverty In Massachusetts By Education Status: Population 25 Years And Older, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

Massachusetts has lower poverty rates compared to the US average. But, like the US, the poverty rate for the people with less than high school graduate far exceed those of higher education level.

Poverty rates differ considerably across Massachusetts’ ten largest cities, ranging from 18.2% in Quincy to 39.6% in Springfield for those with the lowest educational attainment. Cambridge, one of the best-known academic center in the nation, has the highest poverty rate among those with a bachelor’s degree or higher educational level.

Poverty In Massachusetts For Families With Children, Randy Albelda, Ferry Cadet, Dinghong Mei

Center for Social Policy Publications

Massachusetts has lower poverty rates compared to the US average for all families with children. The poverty rates for female-headed families with children (single mother families) are 5.5 times higher than those of married couples with children in Massachusetts and the US.

Poverty rates for families with children differ considerably across Massachusetts’ ten largest cities, and are typically considerably higher than the Massachusetts average for all family types. Springfield has the highest poverty rates for each family type with children while Quincy has the lowest.

Surviving The Early Years Of The Personal Responsibility And Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, Joyce Bialik

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

A system that increasingly stigmatized its recipients only became more stigmatizing with the enactment in 1996 of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act (PRWORA) program. This program has been so successful in deterring cashneedy people from applying for assistance that the decline in participation from the start of the program continues-even in times of economic downturn. The study reported here follows 150 impoverished families during the first three years of PRWORA, when the economy was booming. The data were derived from the Early Head Start Research and Evaluation Project of 1996-2001. Through this secondary analysis a construct was …

A Little Respect, Please, Christina Cerna

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Simon Tisdall suggests that last month, when Mohammed Bouazizi (twenty-six years old), “an unemployed graduate, set himself on fire outside a government building in protest at police harassment,” his act became the “rallying cause for Tunisia’s disaffected legions of unemployed students, impoverished workers, trade unionists, lawyers and human rights activists.” The reaction to his act of self-immolation and death on January 4th led to the flight of President Ben Ali ten days later to Saudi Arabia and to the end of Ali's twenty-three-year rule of Tunisia. Time reported the event as follows: “When Mohamed Bouazizi set himself alight on Dec. …

Africa's Economic Resurgence: Is It Possible?, Alka Jauhari

Political Science & Global Affairs Faculty Publications

Economic theory suggests that inequality between nations is caused by a failure to strike an optimal balance between capital, goods, and labor within a framework of appropriate rules and regulations. This leads to misallocation of a nation's resources - both capital and physical - resulting in distorted use and flow of capital and goods. Politics, regulation and policy-making lie at the heart of such "distortions" which come at a huge cost to societies. Due to these distorted flows, Africa was left behind in the race for economic development, as compared to the other regions of the world. Such distortions have …

Inner City Milwaukee Single Parents Continue Working During Recession, Earnings Remain Low, University Of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Employment & Training Institute

ETI Publications

As part of an ongoing research project, the Employment and Training Institute compared Wisconsin state income tax data for 2007 and 2009 for nine inner city Milwaukee ZIP codes, neighborhoods hard hit by the recession. In spite of the difficult economy, most inner city single Milwaukee parents remained in the workforce. The filing data showed only a 1% decline in earners in 2009 compared to two years earlier in spite of record high unemployment. A majority of the single parents earned less than $20,000 in 2009, and a fourth earned less than $10,000. The low earnings suggest workers with high …

Earned Income Tax Credits To 66,000 Employed Families In Milwaukee County During The Economic Recession, Lois M. Quinn, John Pawasarat

ETI Publications

An examination by the Employment and Training Institute of state earned income tax credits received by families in Milwaukee County based on their 2009 tax returns showed the usage of the credits by working families during the recession. Wisconsin Department of Revenue data are analyzed for tax filers with dependent children who received the Wisconsin earned income tax credit. This credit offers a refundable federal tax support to help reduce payroll and social security tax burdens and to supplement wages for low and moderate income employed families and single persons. Wisconsin is one of 23 states with an earned income …

Latin America’S Indigenous Women, Courtney Hall

Human Rights & Human Welfare

Latin America’s indigenous women are as diverse as the land they inhabit. Their uniqueness is shaped by belonging to groups that have their own distinct history, traditions, and identity. Yet despite this diversity, indigenous women confront the same human rights challenges: racial, gender, and socio-economic discrimination. Without ignoring the diversity of indigenous women, a better understanding of their fundamental struggles can be gained by weaving these issues together in a comprehensive narrative.

Pledge Your Body For Your Bread: Welfare, Drug Testing, And The Inferior Fourth Amendment, Jordan C. Budd

Law Faculty Scholarship

Proposals to subject welfare recipients to periodic drug testing have emerged over the last three years as a significant legislative trend across the United States. Since 2007, over half of the states have considered bills requiring aid recipients to submit to invasive extraction procedures as an ongoing condition of public assistance. The vast majority of the legislation imposes testing without regard to suspected drug use, reflecting the implicit assumption that the poor are inherently predisposed to culpable conduct and thus may be subject to class-based intrusions that would be inarguably impermissible if inflicted on the less destitute. These proposals are …

Special Education, Poverty, And The Limits Of Private Enforcement, Eloise Pasachoff

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This Article examines the appropriate balance between public and private enforcement of statutes seeking to distribute resources or social services to a socioeconomically diverse set of beneficiaries through a case study of the federal special education law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). It focuses particularly on the extent to which the Act’s enforcement regime sufficiently enforces the law for the poor. The Article responds to the frequent contention that private enforcement of statutory regimes is necessary to compensate for the shortcomings of public enforcement. Public enforcement, the story goes, is inefficient and relies on underfunded, captured, or impotent …

Getting Around When You’Re Just Getting By: The Travel Behavior And Transportation Expenditures Of Low-Income Adults, Mti Report 10-02, Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Evelyn A. Blumenberg, Sarah Abel, Gregory Pierce, Charles N. Darrah

Mineta Transportation Institute

How much do people with limited resources pay for cars, public transit, and other means of travel? How does their transportation behavior change during periods of falling employment and rising fuel prices? This research uses in-depth interviews with 73 adults to examine how rising transportation costs impact low-income families. The interviews examine four general areas of interest: travel behavior and transportation spending patterns; the costs and benefits of alternative modes of travel; cost management strategies; and opinions about the effect of changing transportation prices on travel behavior. Key findings include: Most low-income household are concerned about their transportation costs. Low-income …

The Rise And Fall Of The Implied Warranty Of Habitability, David A. Super

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Growing concern about poverty in the late 1960s produced two sweeping legal revolutions. One gave welfare recipients rights against arbitrary eligibility rules and benefit terminations. The other gave low-income tenants recourse when landlords failed to repair their homes. The 1996 welfare law exposed the welfare rights revolution's frailty. Little noticed by legal scholars, the tenants' rights revolution also has failed, and for broadly similar reasons.

Withholding rent deliberately to challenge landlords' failure to repair is unduly risky for most tenants in ill-maintained dwellings: either moving to better housing is a better option or the risk of retaliation is too great. …