Transitions of Poverty Amidst Employment Growth: Two Nonmetro case studies

Abstract

ABSTRACT The theory behind employment growth as a strategy for lessening the poverty problem is based on a premise that job opportunities are inadequate. But during rapid employment growth in some nonmetropolitan areas of Kentucky and Georgia the effect on poverty has been limited. A large majority of poor households have no potential to leave poverty via employment since age, health, and other limiting factors among household members restrict entry into the work force. Also, for some the condition of being poor resulted not because they had never worked, but because they tended to have worked at marginal, low‐wage jobs. Meanwhile, some jobs went unfilled because employers could not find persons who could meet the right requirements. This study shows that in these two areas, expanding employment opportunities did not significantly reduce the poverty problem. As the literature addressing the issue of the effects of employment growth on poverty is inconclusive and sometimes contradictory, clarification of how employment gains are distributed among local residents is essential.