Changing Male and Female Labor Force Participation

Changing employment levels for both males and females may potentially be related to poverty and inequality. In previous decades, males had much higher labor force participation rates than females and wage levels for males have always been higher than wage levels for females. Recently, male employment rates have declined overall, and have been less stable from time to time and more uneven from community to community. At the same time, the rate of female participation in the labor market has increased substantially. It is logical that where male employment rates are lower, the loss of the generally higher male incomes should result in more low-income families and thus more poverty and inequality. On the other hand, since women earn significantly less than men, the increased prevalence of low-income female workers will likely have the same consequences - that is, more poverty and inequality (Nielsen and Alderson 1997; Cancian and Reed 1998; 1999; Treas 1987). Of course, the impacts of male and female employment trends will be influenced by family structure changes. For married-couple families, increased female employment will mean higher family incomes. However, with growing numbers of single-parent families, increased female employment is likely to be at least partially a result of the increased numbers of single mothers who need a job to support their family. Under these circumstances, higher rates of female employment are likely to be related to higher levels of poverty and inequality.

Increasing Minority Populations

As noted earlier, the number of minority residents of the United States has increased extensively in recent decades. This is especially true of Hispanic populations. As shown in Tables 3 and 4, even after decades of legislative efforts, minority workers continue to have much lower incomes than white workers. Thus larger minority populations are likely to mean greater levels of poverty and inequality.

Changing Family Structure

As discussed earlier, changing family structure, and specifically, increased numbers of single-parent families is among the more profound changes affecting U.S. society. The gap in earnings between married-couple families and single-parent families is substantial. Thus, as the proportion of single-parent family's increase, poverty and inequality levels are likely to increase as a consequence.

Changing Age Structure

Between 1946 and 1960, large numbers of babies were born in the United States and the consequence was the "Baby Boom" generation. The aging of the Baby Boom generation has had and will continue to have major implications for many aspects of American society, including poverty and inequality. From the time the War on Poverty was declared until after 1970, the number of children in poverty exceeded the number of working age persons in poverty. Prior to 1970, most of the Baby Boom generation was still under age 18. As the Baby Boom generation moved from childhood to adulthood, the number of children in this country actually declined while there was a rapid increase in the number of people between 18 and 64 (see Table 6). Thus, as discussed earlier, a majority of people in poverty are now between 18 and 64. Again, major changes are on the horizon. Beginning in 2011, the Baby Boom generation will begin turning 65. From that point forward, for a couple of decades, the number of elderly and the proportion of the population that is elderly will increase rapidly. No doubt, the result will be that poverty will increasingly become a problem of the elderly. While the proportion of the elderly population currently living in poverty is now lower than the proportion of the working age population living in poverty, the economic costs of programs making this possible are extensive. Maintaining the viability of Social Security, Medicare and other programs for the elderly are issues of major significance that are currently being debated in this country.

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