"The Increasing Income Inequality among Children"
Martha N. Ozawa
Washington University
and
Rebecca Y. Kim
Ohio State University
Abstract: As the proportion of the population of children decreases and the United
States is increasingly exposed to global competition, children’s economic well-being
will become a major public policy issue. This study investigated the changes in
income inequality among children from 1969 to 1979, 1979 to 1989, and 1969 to 1989
and compared them with the changes among adults and elderly people during the same
periods. The major findings were that (1) income inequality among children increased
at a faster rate than among adult and elderly groups, whether it was measured at
the pretransfer stage or the posttransfer stage, and (2) the increased income inequality
among children was due, in part, to the declining effectiveness of public income
transfers--especially social insurance benefits--in lessening income inequality
among children.
"Race and Welfare: Examining Employment Outcomes of White and
Black Welfare Recipients"
Susan Tinsley Gooden
Virginia Tech
Abstract: This article examines racial disparities in the employment status of white
and black welfare recipients who are participating in a state welfare reform program,
the Virginia Initiative for Employment not Welfare (VIEW). Measures of employment
status include rate of employment; level of employment; hourly wages and occupation
type. This exploratory analysis suggests that black and white welfare recipients
with similar human capital do not have similar employment outcomes. These findings
suggest that analyzing the employment status of welfare recipients by racial subgroups
is an important, understudied dimension of welfare policy.
"An Examination of Support or Non-Support for Affirmative Action,
Race-Targeted and Income-Targeted Policies"
Edward L. Kick
Middle Tennessee State University
and
James Fraser
University of Tennesse, Chattanooga
Abstract: Many quantitative studies attempt to identify the causes of public support
in America for race-targeted, income-targeted, and affirmative action programs.
But results are mixed and the theorized predictors of income-targeting support in
particular are rather anemic in their predictive power. We identify several possible
conceptual and methodological shortcomings in the literature, and provide an alternative
examination based on quantitative and qualitative analysis of data drawn from a
convenience sample. The results are revealing and suggest directions for future
research.
"Robin Hood Revisited: Theft, Charity, and the Ethics of Inequality"
Matthew Hirshberg
University of Canterbury
Abstract: Poverty is perpetuated by systemic inequalities of wealth and power in
mutually reinforcing relationships with predominant belief systems, such as ethical
beliefs about the proper use and distribution of wealth. In unequal societies, moral
inhibitions against "theft" take precedence over imperatives for "charity."
Given the opportunity to transfer wealth through theft and charity, there were few
Robin Hoods among the subjects in the two studies reported here. They showed an
overwhelming tendency not to steal from the rich and give to the poor. Even when
the rich would not miss their money and the poor faced death from starvation, property-protecting
ethics were applied over altruistic ethics. Various social psychological explanations
for these findings are discussed, some of which are experimentally tested.
"Children’s Perceptions of Class Differences: Worries
and Self-Perceptions"
Susan Weinger
Western Michigan University
Abstract: This qualitative study explores middle- and low-income children’s
perspectives about the worries and self-perceptions of children from different socioeconomic
groups. Projective techniques utilizing photographs of houses representing different
income levels were used to interview 24 children between the ages of 5 and 14 in
each of the two income categories. Respondents generally expected the poor child
to worry about life’s harsh realities, while the worries of the middle-class
child would reflect the normal vulnerabilities of childhood. Furthermore, respondents
anticipated that self-worth rose along with children’s socioeconomic status.