Job Search Networks and Strategies in Scattered-site Public Housing

Abstract

How does poverty dispersal influence the job search tactics and networks of poor women? Using the results of interviews with 253 women living in dispersed and small clusters of public housing, this paper examines how job networks and search tactics may vary. The premise is that the mechanisms involved in connecting poor residents of more affluent areas with opportunity may consist of both social connections and new strategies for accessing opportunity. The paper finds that dispersed residents have job networks containing more diverse information. Second, dispersed residents more often used formal methods to find their most recent job. Third, dispersed residents seek better jobs, net of demographic controls, search method, and search outcome. The paper discusses the implications of these findings for the design of housing mobility and mixed-income housing programmes, the current policy emphasis at the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.