Tim Slack

Underemployment in America: Measurement and Evidence

An important way in which employment hardship has come to be conceptualized and measured is as underemployment. Underemployment goes beyond mere unemployment (being out of a job and looking for work), to include those who have given up looking for work, part-time workers whose employer(s) cannot give them full-time work, and the working poor. To provide needed background for the other articles in this special issue, we trace the history of the concept of underemployment, review existing empirical literature, offer a critique of the measurement of underemployment as conventionally operationalized, and provide up-to-date evidence on the trends and correlates of underemployment in the United States.

The geographic concentration of US adult obesity prevalence and associated social, economic, and environmental factors.

This study used spatial statistical methods to test the hypotheses that county‐level adult obesity prevalence in the United States is (1) regionally concentrated at significant levels, and (2) linked to local‐level factors, after controlling for state‐level effects.

Does time heal all wounds? Community attachment, natural resource employment, and health impacts in the wake of the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster

On April 20, 2010, the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon (BP-DH) oil rig exploded, resulting in the largest marine oil spill in history. In this paper we utilize one-of-a-kind household survey data-the Louisiana Community Oil Spill Survey-to examine the impacts of the BP-DH disaster on the mental and physical health of spill affected residents in coastal Louisiana, with a special focus on the influence of community attachment and natural resource employment. We find that levels of both negative mental and physical health were significantly more pronounced at baseline compared to later time points. We show that greater community attachment is linked to lower levels of negative health impacts in the wake of the oil spill and that the disaster had a uniquely negative impact on households involved in the fishing industry. Further, we find evidence that the relationship between community attachment and mental health is more pronounced at later points in time, and that the negative health impacts on fishers have worsened over time. Implications for research and policy are discussed.

Regional disparities in obesity prevalence in the United States: A spatial regime analysis

Significant clusters of high‐ and low‐obesity counties have been demonstrated across the United States (US). This study examined regional disparities in obesity prevalence and differences in the related structural characteristics across regions of the US.

Change in Obesity Prevalence across the United States Is Influenced by Recreational and Healthcare Contexts, Food Environments, and Hispanic Populations

Objective To examine change in county-level adult obesity prevalence between 2004 and 2009 and identify associated community characteristics. Methods Change in county-level adult (≥20 years) obesity prevalence was calculated for a 5-year period (2004–2009). Community measures of economic, healthcare, recreational, food environment, population structure, and education contexts were also calculated. Regression analysis was used to assess community characteristics associated (p<0.01) with change in adult obesity prevalence. Results Mean±SD change in obesity prevalence was 5.1±2.4%. Obesity prevalence decreased in 1.4% (n = 44) and increased in 98% (n = 3,060) of counties from 2004–2009. Results showed that both baseline levels and increases in physically inactive adults were associated with greater increases in obesity prevalence, while baseline levels of and increases in physician density and grocery store/supercenter density were related to smaller increases in obesity rates. Baseline levels of the Hispanic population share were negatively linked to changing obesity levels, while places with greater Hispanic population growth saw greater increases in obesity. Conclusions Most counties in the U.S. experienced increases in adult obesity prevalence from 2004 to 2009. Findings suggest that community-based interventions targeting adult obesity need to incorporate a range of community factors, such as levels of physical inactivity, access to physicians, availability of food outlets, and ethnic/racial population composition.

The Contours and Correlates of Informal Work in Rural Pennsylvania

Social scientists have increasingly come to recognize the informal economy as a prominent and permanent structural feature of modern society. Rural sociologists have made a considerable contribution to this literature, demonstrating informal work to factor prominently in the livelihood strategies of rural Americans. Despite this scholarly attention significant gaps persist in our understanding of the informal economy. Drawing on data from a survey of family households in nonmetropolitan Pennsylvania, this paper examines the contours and correlates of informal work. The results make a strong case that participation in informal work is widespread and most often combined with formal work as a household livelihood strategy. While income is not found to be a significant correlate of informal work, it is found to influence the reasons cited for participation. Important correlates of informal work are identified and differences in the factors associated with informal work done to generate income (cash or in-kind) versus savings are revealed.

Underemployment Among Minorities and Immigrants

The share of the U.S. population comprised of non-white racial/ethnic minorities has increased dramatically in recent decades, and will continue to do so for decades to come. Due in large part to the impact of immigration, the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that non-whites will represent the numeric majority in the United States starting sometime between 2040 and 2050, an event that has been dubbed the “majority-minority crossover” (Ortman & Guarneri, 2008). These trends strongly suggest that the economic well-being of racial/ethnic minorities and immigrant populations will be an increasingly salient question in the twenty-first century, not just for the members of such groups, but for American society as a whole. Indeed, with the overwhelmingly white baby boomers now beginning to reach retirement age, it will increasingly be non-white workers who will support the entitlement programs (i.e., Social Security and Medicare) upon which older Americans have come to depend after leaving the labor force.

Understanding Falling Poverty in the Poorest Places: An Examination of the Experience of the Texas Borderland and Lower Mississippi Delta, 1990–2000

This study examines the structural changes that occurred between 1990 and 2000 in the two poorest regions in the United States—the Texas Borderland and the Lower Mississippi Delta—and analyzes the associations between these changes and the substantial reduction of poverty witnessed in these areas over the decade. Results show that both regions experienced noteworthy changes during the 1990s in the aggregate characteristics commonly associated with poverty. Further, results from multivariate models indicate that counties with high initial poverty rates saw poverty decline the most, with job growth and net in-migration contributing to this decline. Conversely, smaller declines in the population younger than age 15 and greater increases in the share of families headed by females were associated with lesser reductions in poverty over the decade. The results also reveal that the underlying mechanisms influencing the reduction of poverty differed between these regions in important respects. Increases in finance, insurance, and real estate employment and educational attainment were significantly less beneficial for the Borderland, whereas the growth of the minority population was linked to significantly better outcomes for that region in comparison to the Delta.

Diabetes prevalence is associated with different community factors in the diabetes belt versus the rest of the United States

To investigate differences in community characteristics associated with diabetes prevalence between the Diabetes Belt and the rest of the contiguous United States (U.S.)

Work, Welfare, and the Informal Economy: Toward an Understanding of Household Livelihood Strategies

Drawing on data from a survey of family households in nonmetropolitan Pennsylvania, this paper examines how households construct livelihood strategies through partieipalion in the formal labor market, government assistance programs, and informal work (for cash, barter, and savings/self provisioning). Throughout, special attention is paid to influence of household income. The results show that participation in a varied livelihood strategy is common. Greater formal labor force participation is shown among higher-income households, and greater participation in assistance programs is shown among lower-income households. Engagement in the informal economy, however, is shown to differ little by household income. Multivariate models are used to explore key correlates of participation in various livelihood strategies. Implications for future research and efforts aimed at poverty alleviation and community development are then discussed.