E-Book, Englisch, 424 Seiten, EPUB
ISBN: 978-1-4008-3919-3
Verlag: De Gruyter
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
Using rigorous statistical analysis and economic thinking to judge what the best research is and which theories match the evidence, this book clears the ground for students, social scientists, and policymakers who want to understand--and help reduce--poverty and discrimination. It evaluates how well antipoverty and antidiscrimination policies and programs have worked--and whether they have sometimes actually made the problems worse. And it provides new insights about the causes of, and possible solutions to, poverty and discrimination.
The book begins by asking, "Who is poor?" and by giving a brief history of poverty and poverty policy in the United States in the twentieth century, including the Welfare Reform Act of 1996. Among the topics covered are the changing definition of poverty, the relation between economic growth and poverty, and the effects of labor markets, education, family composition, and concentrated poverty. The book then evaluates the evidence on racial discrimination in areas such as education, employment, and criminal justice, as well as sex discrimination in the labor market, and assesses the effectiveness of antidiscrimination policies.
Throughout, the book is grounded in the conviction that we must have much better empirical knowledge of poverty and discrimination if we hope to reduce them.
Autoren/Hrsg.
Fachgebiete
- Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Gewalt und Diskriminierung: Soziale Aspekte
- Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Spezielle Soziologie Soziale Ungleichheit, Armut, Rassismus
- Sozialwissenschaften Soziologie | Soziale Arbeit Soziale Gruppen/Soziale Themen Wohnen & Obdachlosigkeit
- Sozialwissenschaften Ethnologie | Volkskunde Volkskunde Minderheiten, Interkulturelle & Multikulturelle Fragen
- Wirtschaftswissenschaften Volkswirtschaftslehre Volkswirtschaftslehre Allgemein
Weitere Infos & Material
Acknowledgments xi
Chapter 1: Introduction 1
1. The Content of This Book 2
2. Recent Developments in the Study of Poverty and Discrimination 4
3. The Object of This Book 8
4. Why Do Policy Analysts Disagree? The Limits of Statistical Arguments 10
5. Why Do Policy Analysts Disagree? The Role of Values 12
6. A Case Study: Retention in Grade 13
7. Concluding Remarks 17
8. Further Reading 18
9. Questions for Discussion 18
10. Appendix: A Quick Guide to Statistics 19
Part 1: POVERTY
Chapter 2: Who Is Poor? 31
1. Evidence on the Importance of Relative Income 36
2. How the Government Measures Poverty 37
3. Valuing Nonmonetary Income 39
4. Over What Time Period Should We Measure Poverty? 40
5. Other Problems with the Official Measure 41
6. The National Academy of Sciences Report 42
7. Gathering the Data 42
8. Who Is Poor (By the Official Measure)? 43
9. Extreme Poverty 45
10. Homelessness 45
11. Hunger and Food Insecurity 48
12. Alternative Measures of Poverty 51
13. The Dynamics of Poverty 53
14. Why Does Poverty Last So Long for Some People? 56
15. Concluding Remarks 58
16. Further Reading 58
17. Questions for Discussion 59
18. Appendix: A Brief Note on Data 61
Chapter 3: The Evolution of Poverty Policy 63
1. Federal Poverty Programs, 1970-2000 63
2. Incentives under AFDC 66
3. The Earned Income Tax Credit 69
4. Cash or In-Kind Transfer: Which Is Better? 78
5. Concluding Remarks 81
6. Further Reading 81
7. Questions for Discussion 82
Chapter 4: Trends in Poverty 83
1. Trends Using the Official Measure 83
2. Trends in Poverty under Alternate Measures 86
3. Accounting for Trends 87
4. Concluding Remarks 102
5. Further Reading 103
6. Questions for Discussion 104
7. Appendix: Multivariate Analysis 104
Chapter 5: Labor Market Policies 108
1. Understanding Wage Inequality 108
2. Minimum Wage Laws 115
3. Living Wage Laws 120
4. Job Training Programs 121
5. Can Job Training Programs Reduce Poverty? 123
6. Evaluating the JTPA 125
7. Evaluating the Job Corps and Other Youth Programs 129
8. Training Programs and Tagging 133
9. Welfare to Work: Work First 134
10. Employer-Based Subsidies 136
11. Concluding Remarks 140
12. Further Reading 140
13. Questions for Discussion 140
14. Appendix: Adjusting for Program Nonparticipation 141
Chapter 6: Family Composition 143
1. Births to Single Mothers 144
2. Declining Marriage 146
3. Changing Social Attitudes 150
4. The Role of Welfare 156
5. Features of Welfare 158
6. Teenage Childbearing 161
7. Effects of Growing Up with a Single Parent 168
8. Intergenerational Transmission of Poverty 172
9. Policies Aimed at Infants and Toddlers 174
10. Preschool Programs 177
11. Programs for School-Age Children 182
12. Medicaid and SCHIP 190
13. Concluding Remarks 192
14. Further Reading 194
15. Questions for Discussion 196
Chapter 7: Concentrated Poverty 197
1. Life in High-Poverty Neighborhoods 198
2. Do Neighborhoods Matter? 198
3. The Gautreaux Program 201
4. Moving to Opportunity 202
5. Public Housing 203
6. Gangs 205
7. Community Development 206
8. Concluding Remarks 208
9. Further Reading 209
10. Questions for Discussion 210
Chapter 8: Education and Education Reform 211
1. Education and Earnings 212
2. Testing 213
3. Decentralization and School Quality 221
4. Using Tests to Increase School and District Accountability 236
5. Concluding Remarks 239
6. Further Reading 240
7. Questions for Discussion 241
Chapter 9: Welfare Reform 243
1. The Case for Reform 243
2. The Welfare Reform Act of 1996 245
3. Assessing the Effects of Welfare Reform 251
4. Effect on Welfare Receipt 252
5. Welfare Reform and Well-Being 254
6. Living Arrangements 258
7. Effects on Children and Adolescents 259
8. Concluding Thoughts 259
9. Further Reading 260
10. Questions for Discussion 261
Part 2: DISCRIMINATION
Chapter 10: Discrimination: Theory 265
1. What Is Discrimination? 265
2. Theories of Discrimination: Prejudice 269
3. Prejudice in Imperfect Labor Markets 272
4. Transaction Costs Models 273
5. Statistical Discrimination 274
6. Self-Confirming Expectations 277
7. Concluding Remarks 280
8. Further Reading 281
9. Questions for Discussion 282
Chapter 11: Race Discrimination in the Labor Market 283
1. Trends in Black-White Earnings Differentials 283
2. Explaining the Decline in the Wage Gap 287
3. Evidence on Current Discrimination 293
4. Testing for Discrimination: Legal Perspectives 307
5. Affirmative Action in Employment 311
6. Affirmative Action in Public Employment 313
7. Concluding Remarks 314
8. Further Reading 315
9. Questions for Discussion 316
Chapter 12: Race Discrimination and Education 317
1. The Black-White Test Score Gap 317
2. Discrimination in Education 325
3. Affirmative Action in Education 330
4. Concluding Remarks 332
5. Further Reading 333
6. Questions for Discussion 333
Chapter 13: Race Discrimination in Customer Markets
and the Judicial System 334
1. Housing 335
2. Discrimination in Other Markets 345
3. Discrimination in the Justice System 349
4. Concluding Remarks 351
5. Further Reading 352
6. Questions for Discussion 352
Chapter 14: Sex Discrimination 354
1. Theory 354
2. Is There Discrimination against Women in the Labor Market? 360
3. Discrimination, Marriage, and Children 364
4. Sexual Orientation 366
5. Trends in the Female/Male Wage Ratio 368
6. Comparable Worth 373
7. Concluding Remarks 375
8. Further Reading 377
9. Questions for Discussion 378
Chapter 15: Conclusion: An Agenda to Decrease Poverty and Discrimination? 379
1. The Value and Limits of Research 379
2. The Value and Limits of a Strong Labor Market 381
3. Family and Early Childhood Programs 383
4. Education 385
5. Addressing the Needs of High-Poverty Neighborhoods 385
6. Race Discrimination and Inequality 386
7. Addressing Inequality 387
8. Health Care 388
9. Concluding Remarks 388
Author Index 391
Subject Index 395
