Robert C. Tuttle

Poverty over the family life cycle

The Panel Study of Income Dynamics is used to investigate vulnerability to poverty over the family life cycle. An examination of 1981–83 interview years reveals that family life cycle stage is a significant predictor of poverty status. Two-parent families are more vulnerable to poverty in the childbearing stage, and also when they are launching children. Female-headed families are more vulnerable to poverty when younger children are present in the household. Reasons for these different vulnerabilities to poverty are given, and the implications of these findings are discussed.

The Appeal to Reason and the Failure of the Socialist Party in 1912

One of the classic problems studied by social scientists is why there is no socialism in the United States. The Socialist Party has not been a significant political force since the early twen tieth century. A content analysis of the Appeal to Reason, the most popular Socialist newspaper of this era, reveals weaknesses in the Socialist Partys methods for inaugurating socialism. The Socialist Party did not offer a distinct alternative to the major parties because it moderated its demands in order to appeal to middle class voters. The major parties absorbed these liberal policies and the Socialist Party lost its strength.