Duke University.
Soc Probl. 2010;57(4):559-85. doi: 10.1525/sp.2010.57.4.559.
Despite its centrality to contemporary inequality, working poverty is often popularly discussed but rarely studied by sociologists. Using the Luxembourg Income Study (2009), we analyze whether an individual is working poor across 18 affluent democracies circa 2000. We demonstrate that working poverty does not simply mirror overall poverty and that there is greater cross-national variation in working than overall poverty. We then examine four explanations for working poverty: demographic characteristics, economic performance, unified theory, and welfare generosity. We utilize Heckman probit models to jointly model the likelihood of employment and poverty among the employed. Our analyses provide the least support for the economic performance explanation. There is modest support for unified theory as unionization reduces working poverty in some models. However, most of these effects appear to be mediated by welfare generosity. More substantial evidence exists for the demographic characteristics and welfare generosity explanations. An individual's likelihood of being working poor can be explained by (a) a lack of multiple earners or other adults in one's household, low education, single motherhood, having children and youth; and (b) the generosity of the welfare state in which he or she resides. Also, welfare generosity does not undermine employment and reduces working poverty even among demographically vulnerable groups. Ultimately, we encourage a greater role for the welfare state in debates about working poverty.
尽管工作贫困在当代不平等中处于核心地位，但社会学家通常很少讨论它，而只是在大众中流行讨论。本文利用 2009 年的卢森堡收入研究（Luxembourg Income Study），分析了在 2000 年左右的 18 个富裕民主国家中，个体是否处于工作贫困状态。我们证明了工作贫困并不简单地反映了总体贫困，而且各国之间的工作贫困差异大于总体贫困。然后，我们考察了工作贫困的四个解释：人口特征、经济表现、统一理论和福利慷慨程度。我们利用 Heckman 概率模型联合分析了就业者的就业和贫困的可能性。我们的分析对经济表现解释的支持最少。统一理论有一定的支持，因为在一些模型中，工会化降低了工作贫困。然而，这些影响似乎主要是通过福利慷慨程度来实现的。人口特征和福利慷慨程度的解释有更多的证据。一个人是否处于工作贫困状态可以通过以下因素来解释：（a）家庭中缺乏多个收入者或其他成年人、受教育程度低、单身母亲、有孩子和青年；以及（b）他或她所在的福利国家的慷慨程度。此外，福利慷慨程度并不会削弱就业，即使在人口脆弱群体中也能降低工作贫困。最终，我们鼓励福利国家在关于工作贫困的辩论中发挥更大的作用。
