Poverty and work effort among urban Latino men

This research examines the extent of poverty among working men in urban labor markets and analyzes differences in the risk of working poverty among Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and non-Latino White men. Using data from the 1990 Public Use Microdata Sample, the research documents sizable ethnic differences in rates of working poverty and ascertains the extent to which those differences are explained by labor market attachment, human capital, employment position, and labor market context. Labor force attachment clearly reduces the risk of poverty for men, but levels of attachment do not explain ethnic differences in poverty among workers.