Paper presented to the BHPS Research Conference 9-11 July 2009, University of Essex

Escape from Poverty and Occupations

Paul Lambert, Univ. Stirling Vernon Gayle, Univ. Stirling & ISER, Univ. Essex

Paper presented to the BHPS Research Conference9-11 July 2009, University of Essex

Lambert: BHPS conf July 2009

Escape from Poverty and OccupationsOr, Occupational disadvantage and its relation to poverty and poverty transitions

Why occupations matter How an occupational approach to measuring poverty could workSome preliminary results


Some backgroundResearch on stratification, inequality, povertyWhole distribution, cf the most disadvantagedE.g. Poverty as < 50% median; Underclass as lacking assets; etcDirect vs indirect measures of poverty (e.g. Gordon, 2000, 2006) Absolute or relative measures

Sociology primacy of the occupationEconomics, Social Policy: primacy of income and work-based income (e.g. UK welfare to work policies influenced by income considerations)

Notion of a latent, underlying, socially embedded occupation as an indirect measure of poverty...?


1) Why occupations matter

Some claims about occupations: Occupations matter more than other thingsOccupational inequality is mostly one-dimensional Occupational information resources are under-used, and this causes bad science *Quote as highlighted in Coxon and Jones (1978: 10)Nothing stamps a man as much as his occupation. Daily work determines the mode of life.. It constrains our ideas, feelings and tastes (Goblot, 1961)*


(i) Occupations matter more

Gissa job; I can do that

From http://www.bbc.co.uk/liverpool/content/articles/2007/10/09/boys_from_the_blackstuff_feature.shtml


(i) Occupations matter moreWe behave as if they doDefine our lifestylesDefine structures of social inequality

b) LifestylesA large body of sociological evidence on the social meaning of occupations define friendships, marriage, leisure, consumption, and social reproduction itself (e.g. Devine 2004, Pettinger et al. 2005; Guveli et al. 2007; Archer 2007; Bottero et al. 2009)

A mans work is as good a clue as any to the course of his life and to his social being and identity (Hughes, 1958)


A specially selected table

Source: BHPS 2007, currently employed adults, predictors of smoking (additional controls for age and gender)


c) Occupations define structures of social inequality Occupations are convenient markers of major social inequalitiesOccupations (division of labour) are the primary driver of the structure of social inequality

Empirical evidence..

Reaffirms economic significance of jobs (McGovern et al, 2007; )Rejects thesis of diminished structural significance of occupations in modern society (Blossfeld et al., 2006) Highlights centrality of occupations in contours of other social divisions (e.g. immigration - Waldinger and Lichter, 2003)


[Occupational not geographical inequality cf. Burrows & Crow 2006]


Occupations stamp the life-course


..occupations and life-time lifestyles..


ii) Occupational inequality is mostly one-dimensional


Histograms go here


iii) Occupational information resources are under-used, and this causes bad scienceDetailed occupational data is importante.g. Weeden & Grusky (2005)Handling of detailed occupational data is generally poor Re-coding to simplified categorisationsIgnoring complex data (e.g. careers; gender seg.)

For more and more (and more) on this see www.dames.org.uk Lambert et al (2007)


2) How an occupational approach to measuring poverty could work Notion of a latent, underlying, socially embedded occupation as an indirect measure of poverty...?CAMSIS scales: relative social advantage typically associated with incumbents of occupational positions over lifetime (Stewart et al, 1980) Non-working have latent occupations easily measured by socially significant links (e.g. household sharing; career; parents) ..this may not be the same as current objective conditions...

Apparently straightforward decision to make defining a threshold level of the average social advantage typically associated with incumbents of the occupational position


All jobs, male scale: threshold=38.51 Occupational unit groups with > 90 in BHPS sampleRemember that these jobs scores are cross-classified by employment status

Female jobs, female scale: threshold = 38.45Occupational unit groups with > 50 females in BHPS sample

Assigning occupations to all: parsimonious cross-sectional strategy..?Modified Household dominance approachUse the most advantaged occupation within the household, prioritising ft work (e.g. Erikson, 1984), and recognising gender of occupation-holderFor students, parental jobs may be used

For those in household without job..Retrospective questions on last main job Parental jobs used for those aged < 30?Possible weighting factor for unemployment dur.?


Valid data on occupations (BHPS wave 17, excluding NI)

No occupational data - BHPS wave 17 (2007)


Correlations between measures, BHPS, w17 individuals. These low correlations reflect people making 1 poverty threshold and not another


Selected correlations with binary poverty indicatorsBHPS wave 17 excluding NI, N=12448

3) Some preliminary results


..preliminary results..


(Model shows coefficient B and t statistics for logit models predicting whether individuals are in poverty by alternative measures. BHPS waves 9-17 with HW standard error adjustment. Additional controls for age, gender).


(Model shows coefficient B and t statistics for random effects logit models (xtlogit) predicting whether individuals leave poverty given they were in the previous year, by alternative measures. BHPS waves 9-17. Additional controls for age, gender).


4) Conclusions Escape from social disadvantage and occupationsOccupational measures as feasible indirect indicators of relative poverty/disadvantage for the whole population Reduce demographic/life-stage influence cf. income measuresMeasurement challengesReflecting current circumstances [vulnerability to poverty, Gordon 2006] Other alternative measures (e.g. using Unemployment data)The concept of povertyImplicitly absolute concept? Implicitly longitudinal (a thing to escape), but is this over-optimistic?Measurement & social science disciplines [Grusky & Kanbur 2007]What determines social disadvantage/poverty?Disadvantage is more stable than income-based measures showEducation and social background matters more than is recognisedFamily status / demographics matter lessWelfare to work is flawed?


The bottom lineThere are a core of people who experience social disadvantage which is often longer term & fairly stableWe ought to identify and provide welfare support to the disadvantaged

If we use income based poverty indicators we often identify the wrong people..and make poor policy decisions..E.g. of the UKs Working Families Tax Credits

Occupational data might be parsimoniously used as an alternative indicator of social disadvantage


Data sources University of Essex, & Institute for Social and Economic Research. (2009). British Household Panel Survey: Waves 1-17, 1991-2008 [computer file], 5th Edition. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], March 2009, SN 5151.

General Register Office for Scotland, 2001 Census: Standard Area Statistics (Scotland) [computer file]. ESRC/JISC Census Programme, Census Dissemination Unit, Mimas (University of Manchester)Halpin, B. (2006). British Household Panel Survey Combined Work-Life History Data, 1990-2005 [computer file]. 5th ed. Colchester, Essex: Institute for Social and Economic Research, [original data producer(s)]. UK Data Archive [distributor], November 2006. SN: 3954. .Minnesota Population Center. (2008). Integrated Public Use Microdata Series - International: Version 4.0. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.Office for National Statistics. Social and Vital Statistics Division and Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Central Survey Unit, Quarterly Labour Force Survey, January - March, 2008 [computer file]. 2nd Edition. Colchester, Essex: UK Data Archive [distributor], October 2008. SN: 5851. Prandy, K., & Bottero, W. (1998). The use of marriage data to measure the social order in nineteenth-century Britain. Sociological Research Online, 3(1), U43-U54.


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Documents

Paper presented to the BHPS Research Conference 9-11 July 2009, University of Essex