This paper clarifies the social and economic effects of employment in the informal sector on the poor in Russia in recent years. The article describes the extent to which the figures for informal sector at large and unofficial employment in particular vary in different estimates and the effect they have on the average labor income of the poor. The…

Gordon Berlin discusses the nation's long struggle to reduce poverty in families with children, and proposes a counterintuitive solution--rewarding the work of individuals. He notes that policymakers' difficulty in reducing family poverty since 1973 is attributable to two intertwined problems--falling wages among low-skilled workers and the…

This paper focuses on why metropolitan areas vary in their capacity to translate generally high employment rates into economic opportunity for the disadvantaged. Data come from the Urban Institute's Urban Underclass Database, which includes poverty and employment data for 1980 and 1990 for the 100 largest metropolitan areas down to the Census…

An empirical analysis of the effects of alternative income maintenance programs, The Survey of Economic Opportunity, was used to obtain estimates of the labor supply parameters required to assess the implications of these programs for hours of work of male family heads. Labor supply response to changes in the family heads' net wages and in family…

In September 1988, 13.1 million people in the United States wanted jobs, a jobless rate more than twice the official unemployment rate. The official rate does not count the people who have stopped looking for work because they believe that none is available. However, joblessness is only part of the problem. Also important is the phenomenon of the…

Examines the impact of a services economy on the work and income of Black women in relation to current labor theory, employment patterns of Black and White women, and future policy implications. Discusses the growing feminization of poverty as the product of a growing subculture of low-wage work. (JS)

Characteristics of hired farmworkers have changed little during the 1990s. These workers continue to earn about 58 percent as much as all wage and salary workers. Data tables and figures present characteristics of farmworkers and all workers: age, gender, race, educational attainment, citizenship, region, earnings, and occupations. (TD)

Researchers assembled a database of current and projected information on the following: welfare recipients; other female participants in the labor market; employment, occupational availability, and job openings; and occupational characteristics. The database was used in a multistep process to project the number of women forced to leave welfare…

A statistical profile of the working poor in Chicago (Illinois) and the proceedings of the Working Poor Policy Forum held to discuss the findings of the profile are presented. In America it is supposed to be impossible to work and remain chronically poor, but in fact this is not the case. There are many ways to define the income working families…

Data from a nationwide study of low-income people are considered as they apply to the WIN program. The study tested major assumptions upon which WIN is based. The data tend to support the objectives and methods of the WIN program expressed in the original legislation. The analysis summarizes the relevant findings into principles, which support the…

Small populations and remoteness are the most salient features of low-wage counties. These locational attributes coincide with fewer high-wage jobs, yet low wages within industries define low-wage counties more than industry composition. Although adults in low-wage counties have less education and labor force participation overall, the role played…

In 1992, 12 million families were maintained by women in the United States--a figure that more than doubled since 1970 when there were only 5.6 million such families. They accounted for 14.8 percent of all families in 1980 and 17.6 percent in 1992. Women maintained 3.5 million Black families in 1992; this represented nearly half of all Black…

Illustrates, through text and graphs, that many striking variations are submerged beneath overall figures of poverty rates. The substantial differences in poverty rate according to race and ethnicity are, in large part, the consequences of major differences in family types and work situations. (SLD)

In 1999, the percentage of low-wage workers in rural areas was higher than in urban areas or in 1979. The share of women and minorities in low-wage work stabilized, but the share of White men increased. Low-wage work increased in higher-skilled occupations, and the share of college educated low-wage workers increased significantly since 1979. (TD)

In 1998, the Illinois statewide coalition Work, Welfare and Families, in partnership with the Chicago Urban League, undertook a study to assess the effects of welfare reform on low-income families and children across Illinois. The findings were derived from three sources: a self-administered survey of 2,166 low-income clients of Illinois social…