Older Workers: Who are the Working Poor in the U.S.?

Lee, Yoon G.; Teng, Haoyue; Lim, Sin-How; Gallo, William T.

doi:10.2190/1276-6122-80w6-7r47

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 31 publications

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“…Research suggests that the quality of blue-collar occupations, which often do not allow for autonomy and personal control, are not as rewarding as positions held by individuals in higher social classes and may negatively affect workers' mental health (e.g., Brown et al, 1996; Sapolsky, 2005). Furthermore, individuals in lower social classes tend to retire earlier than those in higher classes, are more likely to retire unwillingly or unexpectedly, and retire with less financial stability (e.g., Lee, Teng, Lim, & Gallo, 2005). Despite the apparent influence social class has on career development across the life span, Blustein (2006) has noted that the concerns of the working class and the poor have been neglected in comparison to the middle class and wealthy.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Qualitative Study of the Dislocated Working Class

Fouad

Cotter

Carter

et al. 2011

Journal of Career Development

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This qualitative study examines factors that influence the career decisions of dislocated workers. The research focuses on individuals identified as working class, as this group has been relatively ignored in past research compared to individuals from higher socioeconomic statuses. Participants include 13 individuals (10 females and 3 males) ranging in age from 42 to 65 years. A total of 12 participants were identified as European American and 1 identified as African American. Participants' reported average incomes ranged from $21,000 to $60,000 per year. A consensual qualitative research approach was used to collect and analyze the data. Four major domains emerged, highlighting the importance of individual characteristics, the influence of others, developmental history, and decision-making processes in the career development of this particular sample. Results from the study highlighted the resilience and hopefulness of participants, despite the various barriers they encountered.

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confidence: 99%

A Qualitative Study of the Dislocated Working Class

Fouad

Cotter

Carter

et al. 2011

Journal of Career Development

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“…In 2009, the difference between men and women was dependent on race/ethnicity: Black women have a higher rate than their male counterparts, whereas White and Hispanic women and men were not substantially different (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics 2011). Research thus far has established a sociodemographic profile of the middle-aged (51-61 years old) working poor in the late 1990s and early 2000s; however, since then, there have been significant shifts in the labor market (Lee et al 2005). This profile also does not address early-life factors that we know from social mobility research are associated with risk, such as parents' education or SES, instead focusing on contemporary predictors (e.g., marital status), similar to other recent work (Van Winkle and Struffolino 2018).…”

Section: Povertymentioning

confidence: 99%

Cumulative Disparities in the Dynamics of Working Poverty for Later Career U.S. Workers (2002–2012)

Hale

Dudel

Lorenti

2021

Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

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Many more Americans experience working poverty than unemployed poverty, a situation that was only exacerbated by the Great Recession. The consequences of working poverty for later career workers, who should be at their highest earning ages, are particularly dire. The authors expect that later career workers are especially vulnerable in terms of the risk and duration of working poverty and that those who have accumulated disadvantages over their life courses, in terms of the intersecting dimensions of race/ethnicity, gender, early-life disadvantage, and educational attainment, will suffer disproportionately. The authors use incidence-based Markov-chain multistate models to analyze the U.S. Health and Retirement Study, which is representative of the U.S. population aged 50 years and older. The results reveal that Black women and men, Latinx, those who experienced more early-life disadvantages, and people with lower education have higher risk and longer durations in working poverty over the period from 2002 to 2012. The findings also suggest that when confronted with economic hardship (the Great Recession) later career workers who originate in lower socioeconomic statuses, especially Blacks and Latinx, are in more precarious economic positions. Important from a policy perspective, educational attainment only partially mediates the association between race/ethnicity and working poverty; disparities persist.

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“…As for the working poor specifically, in the U.S., the working poor represent an increasing share of the population -a 25% growth from 2000 to 2010 -and thus are almost a hallmark of the Great Recession era (Brady et al 2010;Thiede et al 2018). Research thus far has established a sociodemographic profile of the middle-aged (aged 51-61) working poor in the late nineties and early 2000s; however, since then, there have been significant shifts in the labor market (Lee et al 2005). This profile also does not address early-life factors that we know from social mobility research are associated with risk, such as parents' education or SES, instead focusing on contemporary predictors, e.g., marital status, similar to other recent work (Van Winkle and Struffolino 2018).…”

Section: Working Povertymentioning

confidence: 99%