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    Sources of Resourcefulness: Evidence that the Culture of Poverty Is a Productive Adaptation to Economic Uncertainty

    Cover for Sources of Resourcefulness: Evidence that the Culture of Poverty Is a Productive Adaptation to Economic Uncertainty
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    Creator
    Witkin, Nathan
    Advisor
    Hisnanick, John
    ORCID
    0000-0001-5534-946X
    Abstract
    Low-income communities in industrialized societies share common characteristics such as unmarried cohabitation and female-headed households. The unresolved question about these unstable family structures is whether they are a cause or effect of poverty. This mystery is the axis continuously turning the policy debate over welfare programs, with arguments about government assistance easing the economic stresses that threaten family stability and counterarguments about benefits targeting unstable families undermining the stabilizing institution of marriage. This thesis seeks to resolve this debate by offering a third way: unstable family structures are not a detriment for low-income households but are, instead, a source of flexibility and resourcefulness. Evidence presented below indicates that non-traditional family structures such as unmarried cohabitation and female-headed households are associated with greater wealth for households below the federal poverty line (which is why these patterns persist) but are associated with less wealth for other Americans (which is why these patterns are decried in the mainstream). Because this improvement in resourcefulness below the poverty line is likely linked to networks of mutual obligation, which could prevent individuals from escaping poverty, I also use panel data to test whether these same indicators are associated with a decreased likelihood of exiting poverty. This research therefore finds quantitative evidence for qualitative descriptions of life in poverty and, in doing so, offers unique evidence explaining the behaviors of people living below the federal poverty line.
    Description
    M.P.P.
    Permanent Link
    http://hdl.handle.net/10822/1059672
    Date Published
    2020
    Subject
    culture of poverty; difference-in-difference; family structure; poverty culture; social welfare; wealth; Public policy; Sociology; Economics; Public policy; Sociology; Economics;
    Type
    thesis
    Embargo Lift Date
    2021-06-30
    Publisher
    Georgetown University
    Extent
    99 leaves
    Collections
    • Graduate Theses and Dissertations - Public Policy
    Metadata
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    Georgetown University Seal
    ©2009 - 2023 Georgetown University Library
    37th & O Streets NW
    Washington DC 20057-1174
    202.687.7385
    digitalscholarship@georgetown.edu
    Accessibility