Double Trouble: US Low-Wage and Low-Income Workers, 1979-2011

Randy Albelda () and Michael Carr

Feminist Economics, 2014, vol. 20, issue 2, 1-28

Abstract: There is research on low-wage earners and on low-income adults, yet little that looks specifically at workers who are both. Changes in antipoverty programs and job structure in the United States suggest a rise in this group of workers, but not necessarily an accompanying change in the set of social protections that might cover them. We track the share of low-wage and low-income (LW/LI) workers and their access to a subset of employer benefits and antipoverty programs from 1979-2011. We explore changes by worker's gender and family status based on feminist labor market and welfare state regime research that argues jobs and social protection programs are shaped by a heteronormative male-breadwinner model. We find increased shares of LW/LI workers; that LW/LI workers are least likely to receive antipoverty supports and employer benefits; and evidence for a male-breadwinner model in US social protection programs.

Date: 2014
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DOI: 10.1080/13545701.2014.886125

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