Examining Poverty and Working Poverty in North Carolina Counties: The Role of Spatial Location, Local Opportunity Structure, and Household Composition

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Date

2008-12-02

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Abstract

My research employs structural and human capital approaches to examine poverty and working poverty. The structural approach identifies that spatial location, the quantity of job opportunities, the quality of job opportunities, the structure of the labor market, and the relative power of labor are important to consider when studying poverty and working poverty. Meanwhile, the human capital approach highlights the importance of considering household composition when studying poverty and working poverty. After collecting cross-sectional data for North Carolina counties, I replicate previous research that examined the effects of the quantity of job opportunities, quality of job opportunities, structure of the labor market, and relative power of labor on poverty, as well as on working poverty. Additionally, I extend past studies by improving the measures of the quantity of jobs, quality of jobs, structure of the labor market, and relative power of labor and adding measures of spatial location and household composition. Ordinary Least Squares regression models indicate that sources of poverty and working poverty include the quantity of jobs, the quality of jobs, the structure of the labor market, the relative power of labor, and household composition.

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Keywords

Local Opportunity Structure, Household Composition, North Carolina, Working Poverty, Poverty, Spatial Location

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Degree

MS

Discipline

Sociology

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