Low-income Workers Research Articles

Working for the Workers? Infonavit’s Creation and Its Foundational Motivations, 1972-1976

As Mexican society urbanized rapidly from 1950 to 1970, housing became a major issue for city inhabitants. This article contributes a specific focus on Infonavit as a major social housing project of the Mexican government. I argue that the Echeverría government created Infonavit in 1972 as one of its social welfare packages for three key reasons: (1) to rejuvenate the PRI’s claim to revolutionary legitimacy, (2) to resolve the perceived ills of mass urbanization and to create ideal urban citizens, and (3) to support economic development. However, I also demonstrate that Infonavit operated as an institution with a core interest in improving the conditions of Mexican workers that was also informed by the goal of creating ideal citizens. Although the politics of Infonavit’s creation was closely linked with PRI legitimacy, Infonavit staff built an institute that was motivated to serve the housing needs of low-income Mexican workers.

The Impact of Minimum Wage System on Low-Income Groups

The minimum wage system sets a legal floor on the income of workers. It provides economic security for low-wage workers and ensures that their basic needs are met, thereby reducing poverty. For low-income workers, increasing the minimum wage directly enhances their earnings, living standards, and financial stability. As a research focus, the primary area of examination would be the precise effect of minimum wage adjustments on the income levels of those in low-paying jobs: analyze the changes in the real income of low-income workers after the augement of minimum salary and the improvement influence of family economic conditions. Second one is exploring the impact on this system changes employment sector: Examine whether raising the minimum wage causes employers that reduce hiring or layoffs, and the potential impact of such changes on low-skilled labor markets. The last one is analyzing the impacts of minimum wage policies of psychological and low-income groups’ social wellbeing: Using questionnaires to understand changes in the perception of low-income workers about their job satisfaction, quality of life, and social status. The rise in this system significantly rose the income level of low-income workers, helped to alleviate poverty, and raised the basic standard of living of these families. In the short term, that increase may have a certain negative impact on some labor-intensive industries, in the form of a small number of job losses; But over the longer term, the job market stabilizes as companies adapt to increased costs and improve efficiency through technological innovation.

Digital credit for all? An empirical analysis of mobile loans for financial inclusion in Kenya

ABSTRACT Digital credit has shown considerable success in Kenya and is expected to provide opportunities for individuals excluded from formal loans because of their lower socioeconomic status. However, evidence supporting the greater positive impact of digital credit on financial inclusion than that of traditional loans is lacking. This study employs a multinomial logistic regression to investigate the impact of digital credit services, particularly mobile banking and FinTech loans (MBLs and FTLs), on financial inclusion in Kenya. MBLs appear to be less accessible to vulnerable populations, such as women, low-educated groups, and casual workers although both MBLs and FTLs are equally accessible to rural populations. In contrast, FTL services show no such constraints in terms of accessibility for women and low-income workers. This disparity indicates the relative inaccessibility of MBLs to vulnerable groups compared to that of FTLs; however, note that greater loan access does not always benefit vulnerable groups.

Between Choice and Coercion? The Processes of Increased Economic Vulnerability Among Low-Income Older Workers

ABSTRACT The social phenomenon of extended working age has been subject to broad scholarly and social policy interest, as part of such trends as the aging of the population, increased life expectancy, shortage of the labor force, and policy debates on pension reforms. A major question about extending working age, or working after retirement, is whether it is a matter of choice, taking control of one’s later life, or is coerced, part of entering the precariat. This study provides a nuanced examination of the social processes that direct labor market participation among older workers by conducting an analysis of in-depth interviews with 42 low-income older workers in Israel. The study exposed several institutional constraints that increase their economic vulnerability, demonstrating how interrelated structural factors related to the labor market, gender, and immigration shape the precarity of the life of older workers and coerce their continuous labor market participation. We conclude by emphasizing the responsibility of governments to ensure that older workers’ labor market participation truly represents their “choice and control,” rather than being a matter of coercion.

Evolving of Low-wage Migrant Workers’ Health Information Seeking Roles Pre and Post Covid-19

An estimated 164 million people work as migrant workers, and many of them are low-income individuals who face a significant risk of virus transmission as a result of contact to the environment and during work. This study intends to provide light on how the behavior and roles of migrant low-income workers in seeking out health information have evolved over time, both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We used semi-structured interviews as part of an exploratory qualitative study to learn more about the low-wage migrant Thai workers’ experiences in Taiwan. Thematic analysis was used to examine the interview data. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, migrant Thai workers evolved unique health information habits and roles. Due to their perceived dangers, they also expanded their care to include those in their immediate social circle and switched from seeking health information as sufferers to doing so as caregivers. This study recognizes and responds to the needs of the society’s most vulnerable migrant workers. The results of this study would direct the government and technological solutions to meet their requirements for health information in the right ways.

Did low-income essential workers during COVID-19 increase public support for redistribution?

Previous studies have shown that America generally has a low level of support for redistribution, in large part due to racial prejudice, particularly toward the poor. The COVID-19 pandemic, however, has increased public attention to low-income workers’ essential roles in society. Has this increased attention to low-income workers promote public support for redistribution? This article examines how priming about low-income workers’ (1) essential roles and (2) race, shaped individuals’ redistributive preferences. Our findings demonstrate that an emphasis on essential workers increased appreciation of their contribution to society and support for pandemic-related benefits for these workers. However, it did not increase support for redistribution or welfare programmes in general. In addition, while we found negative effects of a Latino cue, particularly among white respondents, this effect weakened when information about workers’ work ethics and other attributes was provided. Our findings have implications for understanding public support of redistribution and communicating government social welfare programmes.

‘I Don’t Play Games’: Migrant Workers and Digital Media in Bengaluru

The great impact of media technologies in reordering almost every facet of modern life has been noted by theorists for over a century now, particularly since the idea of the ‘global village’ imagined by media theorists, and enabled by globalisation and digital technology has become an inescapable reality. The new experience of time and space bears upon various dimensions of life, including the nature of work, the organisation of time and the place of leisure within these rhythms. This article attempts to engage with this very weighty body of scholarship in a modest way, through ethnographic research, to understand how mobile phones and internet technologies structure the experience of ‘everyday life’ for low-income migrant workers in Bengaluru. The sites include a construction site and a hookah bar, and the study focuses on mobile gaming and the structuring of migrant social networks.

The importance of supervisor support for the work outcomes and psychological well-being of Malaysian low-income working mothers

Low-income working mothers are susceptible to well-being issues. However, research on the interplay between supervisor support and the work outcomes and psychological well-being of Malaysian low-income working mothers is scarce. Therefore, this study identifies the relationship between work outcomes (work stress, work-life balance, workplace bullying) and the moderating role of supervisor support in the psychological well-being of working mothers. Using purposive sampling, data were obtained from a survey of 269 respondents (M-age = 38.15, SD-age = 8.14) employing offline and online methods. The participants completed the demographic section, Psychological Well-being Scale, Work Stress Scale, Work-life Balance Checklist, Malaysian Workplace Bullying Index, and Supervisor Support Scale. Structural equation modelling analysis showed that work stress was the main contributor to psychological well-being (β = -0.41, t = -2.87, p = .004), followed by supervisor support (β = 0.29, t = 3.34, p .001), and workplace bullying (β = -0.23, p = .048). In addition, supervisor support significantly weakened the impact of work stress on psychological well-being (β = -0.14, t = -2.00, p = .045). The study concludes that supervisor support enhances psychological well-being and reduces the negative burden of work stress on the psychological well-being of Malaysian low-income working mothers. Identifying the most significant contributors to psychological well-being can help working mothers to become more aware of the negative side effects of work, and encourage them to find effective solutions to maintain their psychological well-being. Finally, the study emphasizes for supervisors and human resource personnel the importance of supervisory roles in improving the work environment and providing strengthened support for psychological well-being.

Index of heavy metal pollution and health risk assessment with respect to artisanal gold mining operations in Ibodi-Ijesa, Southwest Nigeria

BackgroundArtisanal gold mining can help reduce poverty while creating job possibilities for many low-income and unskilled workers. However, it is an activity with several detrimental societal consequences. Miners are exposed to chemical toxins that have long-term health consequences. ObjectivesThis study examined soil degradation, pollution, and environmental hazards from artisanal gold mining in Ibodi-Ijesa, Osun State, Nigeria. The aim is to assess the levels of Cu, Co, Cd, Pb, As, and Ni in the study area as potential indicators of environmental concerns. MethodsSoil samples were systematically collected from 66 distinct locations surrounding the gold mining site, at depths ranging from 0 to 15 cm, within distances of 0 to 500 m, and at intervals of 100 m. These samples underwent standard laboratory procedures for heavy metal analysis using Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (AAS).Results: The findings showed that copper (Cu), cobalt (Co), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni) concentrations ranged from 80.17 to 100.11 mg.kg−1, 42.11 to 50.07 mg.kg−1, 30.93 to 54.00 mg.kg−1, and 35.30 to 44.20 mg.kg−1, respectively. Nickel (Ni), cadmium (Cd), and arsenic (As) were all below the detection limit. Although all analysed heavy metal concentrations were lower than the control samples, they outperformed the control values. The contamination index showed no distinct distribution pattern, but all values surpassed those of the control samples. Furthermore, the Health Risk Index was greater than one, indicating possible health hazards for inhabitants. ConclusionThe study indicated that artisanal gold mining operations in Ibodi-Ijesa substantially influenced soil quality, raising heavy metal concentrations and posing health hazards to adjacent populations.

Local Financial Structure and the Pandemic’s Effect on the Distribution of Employment

Abstract Does the structure of financial systems influence the employment respo0nse to adverse shocks? Using (a) county-industry employment data differentiated by firm size and (b) high-frequency county employment data differentiated by income, we find that employment at small firms, employment of low-income workers, and overall employment fell less in counties with higher proportions of small banks in response to the pandemic. Furthermore, small banks lend more to small businesses than large banks, above and beyond government-guaranteed PPP loans. Evidence suggests that small banks cushioned small firms and low-income workers from the adverse effects of the pandemic. (JEL G21, E24, E32, J21, H12) Received: 15 April 2021; Editorial decision: 13 December 2023 Editor: Andrew Ellul Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix,which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Blurring the boundaries: everyday urbanism in Accra Airport City

ABSTRACT Airports have outgrown their dominant roles as transport hubs. The landside of airports is developed into airport cities which are used to brand, create identity and promote economic development for cities. While planned as a high modernist architecture, airport cities do not necessarily cater for the daily needs of the low-income working class in the enclave. Thus, they are compelled to cater for their everyday needs from neighbouring spaces which end up blurring the peripheries of the formally planned spaces. Using qualitative methods, this research shows how everyday urbanism is produced in the Accra Airport City enclave in Ghana. The findings reveal that the experiences of the low-income workers in the enclave show a tension between the formal hegemonic planning of the enclave and the informal strategies deployed by them to meet their everyday needs. They are constantly improvising and showing agility to survive in the restrictive environment.

빈곤 여성 자활근로자의 우울과 신체화 증상이 구강 자각증상에 미치는 영향

Objectives: To examine the levels of depression and somatic symptoms among low-income, self-sufficient female workers and assess the impact of their mental health on subjective oral symptoms. Methods: Between September 27 and November 30, 2023, an analysis was conducted on 328 self-sufficient female workers attending seven local self-sufficiency centers. Results: Depression and somatic symptoms were found to significantly affect gingival symptoms, oral dryness, and temporomandibular joint symptoms. Depression had the greatest impact on gingival symptoms, while somatic symptoms had the greatest impact on temporomandibular joint symptoms. Conclusions: We suggest that the active use of counseling programs to improve continuous oral health care and the mental health of low-income female workers may lead to increased work activities and decreased unemployment.

Peaked too soon? Analyzing the shifting patterns of PM peak period travel in Southern California

Daily vehicle travel collapsed with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 but largely bounced back by late 2021. The pandemic caused dramatic changes to working, schooling, shopping, and leisure activities, and to the travel associated with them. Several of these changes have so far proven enduring. So, while overall vehicle travel had largely returned to pre-pandemic levels by late 2021, the underlying drivers of this travel have likely changed.To examine one element of this issue, we analyzed whether patterns of daily trip-making shifted temporally between the fall of 2019 and 2021 in the Greater Los Angeles megaregion. We used location-based service data to examine vehicle trip originations for each hour of the day at the U.S. census block group level in October 2019 and October 2021. We observed notable shifts in the timing of post-pandemic PM peak travel, so we examined changes in the ratio of mid-week trips originating in the early afternoon (12–3:59 PM) and the late afternoon/early evening (4–7:59 PM).We found a clear shift in the temporal distribution of PM trip-making, with relatively more late PM peak period trip-making prior to the pandemic, and more early PM peak trip-making in 2021. The peak afternoon/evening trip-making hour shifted from 5–5:59 PM to 3–3:59 PM. We also found that afternoon/evening trip-making in each year is largely explained by three workplace-area/school-area factors: (1) the number of schoolchildren in a block group (earlier); (2) block groups with large shares of potential remote workers (earlier), and (3) block groups with large shares of low-wage jobs and workers of color (later, except for Black workers in 2021). We found the earlier shift in PM peak travel between pre- and late-pandemic periods to be explained most by (1) higher shares of potential remote workers and (2) higher shares of low-wage jobs and workers of color. These findings suggest that the rise of working from home has likely led to a shift in PM peak travel earlier in the afternoon when school chauffeuring trips are most common. This is especially true for low-income workers and workers of color.

Urban Transit Infrastructure and Inequality

Abstract We propose a quantitative spatial model featuring heterogeneous worker groups and their travel to consume non-tradable goods and services. We consider the opening of the Downtown Line (DTL) in Singapore, which connected regions where high-income households have residential amenities to where non-traded sectors are productive. Leveraging transit farecard data, we show that high-income workers saw large welfare gains but low-income workers gained little. Everyone enjoyed improved access to consumption opportunities, but low-income jobs in non-tradables moved to less attractive workplaces. Abstracting from consumption travel understates the disparate impact across worker groups three-fold.

The impact of minimum wage increase on suicidal ideation in South Korea: a difference-in-differences analysis using nationally representative panel data.

South Korea had the highest suicide rates in the OECD and one of the largest (16.4%) increases in the minimum wage in 2018. Prior studies have provided evidence that increases in minimum wage reduce suicide rates in the population, but no study examined the effects of the policy change on individual-level suicidal behaviour. Our study sample was built using the 2015-2019 waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Survey, a population-representative longitudinal survey. The sample consisted of 5146 participants, including those earning above minimum wage (control) and minimum wage earners (treatment) based on their 2018/19 earnings. The outcome of the study was suicidal ideation, which is an important precursor to other suicidal behaviours, and was captured using self-reported measures. We examined the impact of the 2018 minimum wage hike in Korea on suicidal ideation, using a difference-in-differences design. The minimum wage increase was associated with a 1.6% points reduction (95% CI: -2.8% to -0.5%) in self-reported suicidal ideation. Stronger policy effects were shown among women and older age groups. Our study demonstrates that public policies employing a population-based approach, such as increasing minimum wages, could serve as an effective intervention to mitigate suicidal ideation among low-income workers.

Loan accessibility for social housing in Vietnam's Mekong Delta: An empirical study

The purpose of this study is to examine how easily low-income workers can get loans for social housing projects under a Vietnamese government policy. This policy, outlined in Decision 388/QD-TTg by the Prime Minister on April 3, 2023, aims to build at least 1 million apartments for low-income individuals and industrial park workers from 2021 to 2030. The study focuses on four branches of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policy (VBSP) in the Mekong Delta region: Tra Vinh, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, and Soc Trang provinces. The research involved surveying 280 workers who applied for loans at these banks between May 2003 and September 2023. Half of these applicants met the loan criteria, while the other half did not. Using a Binary logistic regression model, the study identified several factors that influence the likelihood of obtaining a social housing loan from VBSP. These factors include the applicant's age, education level, number of dependents, marital status, total income, equity ratio, and the value of collateral. Among these, the total income, value of collateral, and equity ratio were found to have the most significant effect on loan accessibility. Based on the findings, the authors suggest policy recommendations to make it easier for low-income workers to access loans for social housing in the future, enhancing the effectiveness of the VBSP's lending program in the Mekong Delta.

Changes in Health Care Workers’ Economic Outcomes Following Medicaid Expansion

The extent to which changes in health sector finances impact economic outcomes among health care workers, especially lower-income workers, is not well known. To assess the association between state adoption of the Affordable Care Act's Medicaid expansion-which led to substantial improvements in health care organization finances-and health care workers' annual incomes and benefits, and whether these associations varied across low- and high-wage occupations. Difference-in-differences analysis to assess differential changes in health care workers' economic outcomes before and after Medicaid expansion among workers in 30 states that expanded Medicaid relative to workers in 16 states that did not, by examining US individuals aged 18 through 65 years employed in the health care industry surveyed in the 2010-2019 American Community Surveys. Time-varying state-level adoption of Medicaid expansion. Primary outcome was annual earned income; secondary outcomes included receipt of employer-sponsored health insurance, Medicaid, and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits. The sample included 1 322 263 health care workers from 2010-2019. Health care workers in expansion states were similar to those in nonexpansion states in age, sex, and educational attainment, but those in expansion states were less likely to identify as non-Hispanic Black. Medicaid expansion was associated with a 2.16% increase in annual incomes (95% CI, 0.66%-3.65%; P = .005). This effect was driven by significant increases in annual incomes among the top 2 highest-earning quintiles (β coefficient, 2.91%-3.72%), which includes registered nurses, physicians, and executives. Health care workers in lower-earning quintiles did not experience any significant changes. Medicaid expansion was associated with a 3.15 percentage point increase in the likelihood that a health care worker received Medicaid benefits (95% CI, 2.46 to 3.84; P < .001), with the largest increases among the 2 lowest-earning quintiles, which includes health aides, orderlies, and sanitation workers. There were significant decreases in employer-sponsored health insurance and increases in SNAP following Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion was associated with increases in compensation for health care workers, but only among the highest earners. These findings suggest that improvements in health care sector finances may increase economic inequality among health care workers, with implications for worker health and well-being.

Pandemic Necrolabour and Essential Workers in the UK and France

Drawing on recent studies on the necropolitics of Covid-19, this paper focuses on UK and French government policies towards essential workers, examining the conditions under which workers were systematically exposed to deadly harm within these two contrasting economic models. I argue that the pandemic revealed a category of necrolabour whose labour value supersedes their right to life and who could be legitimately sacrificed in the interests of the economy. Statistical recording shows that internationally, death rates amongst low-income essential workers were disproportionately high. We will see that workers’ exposure to death was as much a consequence of state authority that compelled them to continue working, at risk to their lives, as an outcome of official negligence that left many unprotected and lacking basic rights. Without legislative changes to improve employment rights and social protection, the unnecessary deaths of socially marginalised workers in essential jobs are likely to persist in the post-pandemic economy.

Impact of the minimum wage increase on intimate partner violence (IPV): a quasi-experimental study in South Korea

BackgroundPoverty is associated with intimate partner violence (IPV), but whether exogenous increases in wage could reduce IPV among low-income women is still unclear. We examined whether the 2018 minimum wage...

Structural transformation, the knowledge economy, and the geography of low-income work

Abstract The structural transformation toward the knowledge economy is often credited with increasing polarization and precarization of the low end of the labor market. Little is known, however, about the geography of low-income work since the literature has largely ignored sub-national variation. This article explores how the knowledge economy as the main driver of the transformation has affected the concentration of low-income work throughout the Swedish regional system for the last 30+ years. We propose a model where the knowledge economy affects the prevalence of low-income work through three mechanisms: polarization, upgrading, and labor market tightening. We find that the prevalence of low-income work in Sweden has decreased, and regions have converged under this metric over time. The penetration of the knowledge economy is, moreover, associated with lower levels of low-income work, and even though the knowledge economy is related to increasing polarization and, through it, an expansion of the low-income sector, the opposite effects of upgrading and tightening outweigh it. We discuss these findings in relation to studies conducted in different contexts and argue that institutional embeddedness, in particular (but not exclusively) labor market institutions, matters greatly in shaping these outcomes.