Work Response to Income Maintenance: Economic, Sociological, and Cultural Perspectives

Wright, Sonia R.

doi:10.2307/2576471

Cited by 5 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…11 Disentangling the effects of social causation and social selection ideally requires an experimental design that manipulates poverty levels and studies the effects on mental illness. 11 Income ex-periments, such as this, have occasionally been done; for example, the New Jersey Negative Income Tax experiment of the 1960s, 12,13 and its replications. [14][15][16] However, none of these studies investigated the effects of relief from poverty on mental health.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships Between Poverty and Psychopathology

Costello¹,

Compton²,

Keeler³

et al. 2003

JAMA

947

655

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Context Social causation (adversity and stress) vs social selection (downward mobility from familial liability to mental illness) are competing theories about the origins of mental illness. Objective To test the role of social selection vs social causation of childhood psychopathology using a natural experiment. Design Quasi-experimental, longitudinal study. Population and Setting A representative population sample of 1420 rural children aged 9 to 13 years at intake were given annual psychiatric assessments for 8 years (1993-2000). One quarter of the sample were American Indian, and the remaining were predominantly white. Halfway through the study, a casino opening on the Indian reservation gave every American Indian an income supplement that increased annually. This increase moved 14% of study families out of poverty, while 53% remained poor, and 32% were never poor. Incomes of non-Indian families were unaffected. Main Outcome Measures Levels of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, psychiatric symptoms in the never-poor, persistently poor, and ex-poor children were compared for the 4 years before and after the casino opened. Results Before the casino opened, the persistently poor and ex-poor children had more psychiatric symptoms (4.38 and 4.28, respectively) than the never-poor children (2.75), but after the opening levels among the ex-poor fell to those of the neverpoor children, while levels among those who were persistently poor remained high (odds ratio, 1.50; 95% confidence interval, 1.08-2.09; and odds ratio, 0.91; 95% confidence interval, 0.77-1.07, respectively). The effect was specific to symptoms of conduct and oppositional defiant disorders. Anxiety and depression symptoms were unaffected. Similar results were found in non-Indian children whose families moved out of poverty during the same period. Conclusions An income intervention that moved families out of poverty for reasons that cannot be ascribed to family characteristics had a major effect on some types of children's psychiatric disorders, but not on others. Results support a social causation explanation for conduct and oppositional disorder, but not for anxiety or depression.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

Relationships Between Poverty and Psychopathology

Costello¹,

Compton²,

Keeler³

et al. 2003

JAMA

947

655

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Work attitudes were tested further with a six-item forced choice response scale developed by Tausky.30 Items were gauged in terms of three work alternatives. These consisted of: ( 1) work or non-work dimensions; (2) social versus economic rewards; and (3) job prestige in preference to low level occupational and financial security.…”

Section: (B) Income Maintenance and The Meaning And Commitment To Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A key rationale in these works is that of the 'culture of poverty'. 3 This approach assumes that the values of the poor differ from those shared by other members of society. It is suggested, for example, that among the hard-core and welfare poor there is a group supported rejection of work.…”

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confidence: 99%

Work Orientations of the Poor and Income Maintenance

Ternowetsky¹

1977

Aust J Social Issues

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Attitudes towards work are compared between a non‐poverty sample and a group of poor involved in an experimental income maintenance scheme. Two problems are examined. The first tests work orientation differences between the poor and the non‐poor. The second assesses the supposed ‘work disincentive effect’ of income maintenance. Contrary to the ‘culture of poverty’ thesis and the logic underlying many policy efforts, it was found that the poor are strongly motivated to achieve through work. Male/female comparisons revealed that non‐work tendencies are evident among the female poor. These, however, are attributed to their acceptance of different role expectations. It was also shown that over time the work orientations of the poor remained stable under conditions of guaranteed income support. The hypothesized ‘work disincentive effect’ of income maintenance was not supported.

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“…A paramount concern among social policymakers is the moral hazard behavior a social policy might foster. One of the most discussed aspects of the concern has been whether and to what extent unconditional income support creates disincentives to work (Standing, ; Wright, ). A long‐held view is that welfare benefits that do not specify any work‐related obligation discourage labor market participation and promote laziness and dependency.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Work disincentive perceptions and welfare state attitudes: A survey experiment in South Korea

Lim¹,

Tanaka

2019

Governance

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Scholars and policymakers have long examined whether and to what extent public income transfer programs create work disincentives. Less explored are the patterns and mechanisms through which perceived work disincentives shape public attitudes toward such programs. The present article bridges this gap by examining how individuals' exposure to a moral hazard discourse affects their support for an income transfer program. Our original survey experiment in South Korea finds that the effect of an identically worded piece of moral hazard information plays out differently depending on the eligibility criteria of the program in question (means‐tested vs. universal) and the economic status of the respondents. The findings have significant implications for understanding the support base for the welfare state in the context of resurging interest in basic/guaranteed income.

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Work Response to Income Maintenance: Economic, Sociological, and Cultural Perspectives

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Relationships Between Poverty and Psychopathology

Relationships Between Poverty and Psychopathology

Work Orientations of the Poor and Income Maintenance

Work disincentive perceptions and welfare state attitudes: A survey experiment in South Korea

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