A multi-level analysis of income sources of the poor and near poor

This chapter investigates multi-level models of income sources for low-income households. It utilizes the 1980 Public Use Microdata Sample D to examine the sources of household income for poor and near poor households categorized by rural-urban residence, gender, and race in labor market areas in the southeastern United States, a region with the highest poverty rates in the nation. The chapter shows that how opportunity structure intersects with household and individual factors to influene household work effort and sources of household income. Income for most people in the society is determined by their relationship to the labor market. Multi-level models combine the insights from new research on the ecology of poverty, communities, labor markets, households, and individuals to define an opportunity structure and labor supply that influence who is poor and why. Race also plays a very large role in differentiating those families or individuals susceptible to poverty.