Working on, off, and around the Books

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Karjanen
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Wage Labor ◽  
Informal Work ◽  
Urban Economic

The fifth chapter looks at informal, or “off-the-books,” employment and how integral it is in low-income communities, particularly for those who cannot afford vital services or do not earn enough through their primary occupation. Traditionally, this type of “street hustling” has been viewed as on the peripheries of urban economic activity. The chapter includes an analysis of informal work alongside other forms of low-wage labor precisely because when looked at it analytically, this type of wage labor is not marginal, but is in fact integral to the economy of the urban and working poor.

THE EARNED INCOME CREDIT: HISTORICAL PREDECESSORS AND CONTEMPORARY EVOLUTION

1995 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 57-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.J. Cataldo
Keyword(s):  
Delivery System ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Committee Chairman ◽  
Contemporary Evolution ◽  
Assistance Program ◽  
Earned Income ◽  
Finance Committee ◽  
Family Assistance ◽  
History Of

The Revenue Reconciliation Act of 1993 (RRA93) significantly expanded the earned income credit (EIC), which was changed to include low-income taxpayers without dependents. Evolving, most directly, from the “workfare” plan (1972) proposed by Senate Finance Committee Chairman, Russel B. Long, and in response to President Nixon's Family Assistance Program (FAP), the post-1974 EIC was not the first of its kind. It had two predecessors. The EIC of 1923 through 1931 benefitted taxpayers with or without dependents and excluded any “workfare” feature. A second EIC, in name only, was in effect for the 1934 through 1943 tax years. This paper develops a historical framework for study of the post-1974 EIC. This framework necessarily precedes any investigation of contemporary issues relating to the twenty-year history of the post-1974 EIC which, unlike its first predecessor, appears destined to continue as a permanent, expanding mechanism for the delivery of basic subsistence to the “working poor.” The resolution of these contemporary issues will determine whether the post-1974 EIC is destined to replace or continue to co-exist with a (presumably) more costly welfare delivery system.

scholarly journals Stress and the working poor

Human Affairs ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zuzana Řimnáčová ◽  
Alena Kajanová
Keyword(s):  
Food Intake ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Mental State ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Neurological Disorders ◽  
Strong Predictor ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Poverty Level ◽  
Entire Family

Abstract The working poor are not a clearly defined group. There are still people who work full-time, but have incomes bordering on poverty level. They tend to remain in work despite their low wages simply to avoid becoming unemployed and risk social exclusion. However, working in low-income jobs for long periods creates stress and gives rise to further problems. Stress affects sleep patterns and leads to problems associated with food intake and nutrition, and thus to disorders of the gastrointestinal system. Cardiovascular and neurological disorders may occur too. A lack of finances, and the stresses stemming from that are statistically significant and a strong predictor of a worse mental state. There is also a higher probability of psychosis occurring. All this affects the entire family, especially children. The inability to invest money and time in their development is another consequence.

Working Men Views of Poverty

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 480-502 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roni Strier ◽  
Zvi Eisikovits ◽  
Laura Sigad ◽  
Eli Buchbinder
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Meaning Of Work ◽  
The Social ◽  
Constructivist Perspective ◽  
And Gender ◽  
And Coping ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Poor Population

Despite the alarming numbers of workers living in poverty in developed countries, work is still commonly seen as a way out of poverty. From a social constructivist perspective and based on qualitative research of the working poor in Israel, the article explores low-income Arab and Jewish working men’s views of poverty. It addresses research topics such as the meaning of work, the perception of the workplace, and the experience of poverty and coping strategies. In addition, the article examines the presence of ethnic differences in the social construction of in-work poverty. At the theoretical level, the article questions dominant views of work as the main exit from poverty, highlights the impact of gender and ethnicity in the construction of in-work poverty, and suggests the need for more context and gender-informed policies to respond to the complexity of the male working poor population.

Employment and the Working Poor

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jérôme Gautié ◽  
Sophie Ponthieux
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Public Policies ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Working Poverty ◽  
The Individual

This article examines the phenomenon of working poverty and issues relating to employment and the working poor. It first provides an overview of the problems of definition and measurement regarding the working poor, along with the consequences of the diversity of definitions. In particular, it considers different current definitions of the statistical category “working poor” and how definitions affect the assessment of the in-work poverty phenomenon. It also provides a “statistical” portrait of the working poor and explores how the risk of working poverty has evolved in the 2000s. Finally, it discusses the causes of working poverty, including low income at the individual level and the role of welfare states, and outlines potential remedies in terms of public policies.

scholarly journals Towards a post-COVID geography of economic activity: Using probability spaces to decipher Montreal’s changing workscapes

Urban Studies ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 004209802110228
Author(s):  
Richard Shearmur ◽  
Priscilla Ananian ◽  
Ugo Lachapelle ◽  
Manuela Parra-Lokhorst ◽  
Florence Paulhiac ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Geography ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Probability Space ◽  
Urban Economic ◽  
Work From Home ◽  
Working From Home ◽  
Single Location ◽  
Probability Spaces ◽  
Original Survey

In March 2020, many workers were suddenly forced to work from home. This brought into stark relief the fact that urban economic activity is no longer attached to specific workplaces. This detachment has been analysed in research on organisations and workers, but has not yet been incorporated into concepts used to document and plan the economic geography of cities. In this article, three questions are explored by way of an original survey: first, how can a shift in the location of economic activity be measured at the urban scale whilst incorporating the idea that work is not attached to a single location? Second, what is the nature of the shift that occurred in March 2020? Third, what does this tell us about concepts that have underpinned the study of urban economic form by geographers and planners? Applying concepts developed in organisation studies and sociology, we operationalise the idea that economic activity happens across multiple spaces: it occurs within a probability space, and since March 2020 it has shifted within this space. To better understand and interpret the longer-term impact of this shift on cities – downtowns in particular – we draw upon interviews with people working from home.

When Working Harder Does Not Pay: Low-Income Working Families, Tax Liabilities, and Benefit Reductions

2007 ◽  
Vol 88 (3) ◽  
pp. 418-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Romich ◽  
Jennifer Simmelink ◽  
Stephen D. Holt
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Tax Rates ◽  
Tax System ◽  
Two Factors ◽  
Working Families ◽  
Low Income Families ◽  
Implicit Taxation

Under some circumstances, recent reforms to policies that affect the working poor create a barrier to workers who try to increase their families' financial well-being through greater earnings. As earnings rise, benefits are reduced and taxes increase. Together these two factors may mean that accepting a raise or working more hours may not make a worker's family better off financially. This article presents an analysis of the extent of implicit taxation and describes how low-wage workers experience this phenomenon. We address three areas: how benefit programs and the tax system together create high combined tax rates, the implications of this system for low-income families' well-being, and finally, suggestions for practice and reform.

The Low-Income Trap

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
David J. Karjanen
Keyword(s):  
Inner City ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Working Poor ◽  
Economic Mobility ◽  
Financial Resources ◽  
Relative Probability

The eighth chapter looks at the challenges that the inner city and working poor have in terms of economic mobility based on a lack of economic or financial resources. This is especially true for the servant class economy, as not only are the structures of opportunity limited, but also the barriers to movement are increasingly severe, making the relative probability of escaping the bottom of the urban-class strata far less likely.

Proposal to Enhance Fund Support for Low-Income Countries Hit by Public Health Disasters

Policy Papers ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 (7) ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Infectious Disease ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Economic Activity ◽  
Debt Service ◽  
Balance Of Payments ◽  
Financial Assistance ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Trust Fund ◽  
International Commerce

The Fund’s existing facilities for low-income countries (LICs) provide a vehicle for the speedy provision of financial assistance to member countries hit by natural disasters, either through the Rapid Credit Facility (RCF) or through augmentation of the funding already being provided through other facilities such as the Standby or Extended Credit Facilities. The quick disbursement of funds strengthens national financial capacity, including external payments capacity, to tackle relief and recovery challenges. To address catastrophic disasters, the Fund created a mechanism in 2010 to provide additional relief to its poorest and most vulnerable member countries to help meet their exceptional balance of payments needs. Under this mechanism, the Fund can provide grants from a trust fund—the Post Catastrophe Debt Relief (PCDR) trust—that are used to pay off debt service falling due to the Fund. These grants ease pressures on the member’s balance of payments and create financial space by reducing its debt service burden. This paper proposes reforms to this mechanism to cover situations where the member is experiencing an epidemic of an infectious disease that constitutes a significant threat to lives, economic activity, and international commerce across countries.

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